Combined speciation analysis and elemental bioimaging provide new insight into gadolinium retention in kidney

This study uses a leaching approach in combination with elemental bioimaging and speciation analysis to obtain insight into the gadolinium species present in the kidney of rats that were treated with either a linear or a macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent. Fresh frozen thin sections of the harvested kidneys were immersed halfway into water to wash out hydrophilic species and subsequently analyzed by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The water-extracted gadolinium species were analyzed by means of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Information on the water-soluble species could not only be obtained from the full kidney, but also be traced back to its localization in the tissue. On longitudinal kidney sections treated with gadobutrol, it was found that water-insoluble, permanent Gd depositions were mainly located in the renal cortex, while water-soluble species were found in the medulla, which contains the intact contrast agent up to 1 year after injection. Moreover, kidney samples from gadodiamide-treated rats showed more water-insoluble Gd deposition in both the cortex and medulla, while the concentration of intact contrast agent in the water-soluble fraction was below the limit of detection after 12 months. In conclusion, this rapid approach allowed the spatially resolved differentiation between water-soluble and insoluble gadolinium deposition and is therefore capable of generating new insight into the retention and transportation behavior of gadolinium.