Gadolinium-conjugated PLA-PEG nanoparticles as liver targeted molecular MRI contrast agent

A nanoparticle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent targeted to liver was developed by conjugation of gadolinium (Gd) chelate groups onto the biocompatible poly(l-lactide)-block-poly (ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) nanoparticles. PLA-PEG conjugated with diethylenetriaminopentaacetic acid (DTPA) was used to formulate PLA-PEG-DTPA nanoparticles by solvent diffusion method, and then Gd was loaded onto the nanoparticles by chelated with the unfolding DTPA on the surface of the PLA-PEG-DTPA nanoparticles. The mean size of the nanoparticles was 265.9 ± 6.7 nm. The relaxivity of the Gd-labeled nanoparticles was measured, and the distribution in vivo was evaluated in rats. Compared with conventional contrast agent (Magnevist), the Gd-labeled PLA-PEG nanoparticles showed significant enhancement both on liver targeting ability and imaging signal intensity. The T(1) and T(2) relaxivities per [Gd] of the Gd-labeled nanoparticles was 18.865 mM(-1) s(-1) and 24.863 mM(-1) s(-1) at 3 T, respectively. In addition, the signal intensity in vivo was stronger comparing with the Gd-DTPA and the T(1) weight time was lasting for 4.5 h. The liver targeting efficiency of the Gd-labeled PLA-PEG nanoparticles in rats was 14.57 comparing with Magnevist injection. Therefore, the Gd-labeled nanoparticles showed the potential as targeting molecular MRI contrast agent for further clinical utilization.