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Model-based analysis of Gd-BOPTA-induced MR signal intensity changes in cirrhotic rat livers
Corinne Planchamp1, Marianne Gex-Fabry, Christoph D Becker
1Laboratoire de Physiopathologie Hépatique et Imagerie Moléculaire, and Département de Psychiatrie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
Objective:
To quantify the hepatic transport of the hepatobiliary contrast agent gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) in rats with biliary cirrhosis of various severity degrees from magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensities using a population pharmacokinetic approach.
Materials And Methods:
MR signal intensity was recorded during the Gd-BOPTA perfusion of normal and cirrhotic isolated rat livers. Similar experiments were conducted with Gd-labeled Gd-BOPTA to quantify Gd-BOPTA content in liver, bile, and perfusate. All experimental data were analyzed together according to a population pharmacokinetic approach.
Results:
A 6-compartment model developed from the radioactivity data adequately fit all MRI data when 4 image parameters were added to describe the relationship between the amount of contrast agent and the signal intensity. The model showed that entry of Gd-BOPTA into hepatocytes was decreased in cirrhotic livers when compared to normal livers.
Conclusions:
Although the MR signal intensity is similar in normal and cirrhotic livers, the population pharmacokinetic approach developed in this study shows a decreased entry of Gd-BOPTA into cirrhotic hepatocytes.
