Assessing the utility of gadolinium-based contrast agents administered by the intravenous and the intraperitoneal route in rodents in magnetic resonance imaging

Authors

• VM Diaz
• JS Kumar
• JP Munasinghe
• MD Hall
• MM Gottesman
• BA Klaunberg

Abstract

Intravenous cannulation (IV) of the tail vein in small animals is a common method used to administer Gadolinium- based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. However, serial imaging in longitudinal studies require repeat probing of the tail vein that can cause sclerosis and necrosis, which imposes the main limitation on the ability to serially obtain MR images of mice with IV contrast. In addition, IV cannulation is a challenging procedure due to the small diameter of the veins and the problem is compounded in studies when repeat IV administration of other drugs is required. Intraperitoneal (IP) injections are relatively facile approach to administering compounds in comparison with IV cannulation in mice and rats. We examined contrast enhancement of the pituitary as a method to establish efficacy of the different dosages and routes of contrast enhancement. Since the vasculature of the pituitary is not comprised of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) it is more permeable, allowing gadolinium based compounds to accumulate within the gland. We found that IP gadolinium enhanced the pituitary comparable to the IV dosage route. Furthermore, we propose that IP gadolinium is also useful for contrast enhanced brain imaging for areas of BBB compromise (such as tumor environments).

Scientific Focus Area: Systems Biology

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