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High‐resolution MRI of deep‐seated atherosclerotic arteries using motexafin gadolinium
Author(s) -
Brushett Chris,
Qiu Bensheng,
Atalar Ergin,
Yang Xiaoming
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.21174
Subject(s) - histology , in vivo , lumen (anatomy) , gadolinium , magnetic resonance imaging , abdominal aorta , medicine , high resolution , nuclear medicine , biomedical engineering , aorta , materials science , radiology , pathology , biology , surgery , remote sensing , microbiology and biotechnology , metallurgy , geology
Purpose To evaluate the potential of using motexafin gadolinium (MGd) to characterize atherosclerotic plaques of deep‐seated arteries with MRI. Materials and Methods We exposed vascular endothelial cells (EC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC) in vitro to varying concentrations of MGd. The fluorescence properties of MGd were then exploited using confocal microscopy to image exposed cells. For an in vivo validation study, we performed surface coil–based and intravascular coil–based high‐resolution MRI of the iliac arteries and the abdominal aorta of three atherosclerotic Yucatan pigs. Subsequently, MGd enhancement of the target vessel walls was quantitatively evaluated and MR images were correlated with histology of the target vessels. Results The in vitro study confirmed the intracellularization of MGd in both cell types and determined the optimum MGd dosage of 0.004 mmol/kg that produced the sufficiently high intracellular fluorescent intensity. The in vivo study showed a steady increase of MGd enhancement to approximately 25% at three hours postinjection of MGd. MRI showed areas of strong enhancement along the lumen boundary, which corresponded to fibrous tissue seen in histology. Conclusion This study provides initial evidence that MGd may enhance MR vessel wall imaging for the characterization of plaque in deep‐seated arteries. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.