Mannose-coated gadolinium liposomes for improved magnetic resonance imaging in acute pancreatitis

• Main Authors: Tian B, Liu R, Chen S, Chen L, Liu F, Jia G, Dong Y, Li J, Chen H, Lu J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2017-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Nanomedicine
• Subjects: Acute pancreatitis; Gd-DTPA; liposomes; macrophages; mannose receptors
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/mannose-coated-gadolinium-liposomes-for-improved-magnetic-resonance-im-peer-reviewed-article-IJN

Bing Tian,1 Ri Liu,1 Shiyue Chen,1 Luguang Chen,1 Fang Liu,1 Guorong Jia,1 Yinmei Dong,1 Jing Li,1 Huaiwen Chen,2,3 Jianping Lu11Department of Radiology, 2Center of Clinical and Translational Medicine, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 3Sunlipo Biotech Research Center for Nanomedicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an acute inflammatory condition of the pancreas. The symptoms, treatment, and prognosis of mild and severe AP are different, and severe AP is a potentially life-threatening disease with a high incidence of complications and high mortality rate. Thus, it is urgent to develop an effective approach to reliably discriminate between mild and severe AP.Methods: We have developed novel gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic (Gd-DTPA)-loaded mannosylated liposomes (named thereafter M-Gd-NL) that preferably target macrophages in AP. The targeting ability of M-Gd-NL toward macrophages in AP and its ability to discriminate between mild and severe AP were evaluated.Results: The liposomes were of desired particle size (~100 nm), Gd-DTPA encapsulation efficiency (~85%), and stability. M-Gd-NL and non-targeted Gd-DTPA-loaded liposomes (Gd-NL) exhibited increased relaxivity compared with Gd-DTPA. Compared with Gd-NL and Gd-DTPA, M-Gd-NL showed increased uptake in macrophages, resulting in increased T1 imaging ability both in vitro (macrophage cell line) and in vivo (severe AP model). Importantly, M-Gd-NL had the ability to discriminate between mild and severe AP, as reflected by a significantly higher T1 magnetic resonance imaging signal in severe AP than in mild AP. M-Gd-NL did not show severe organ toxicity in rats.Conclusion: Our data suggest that M-Gd-NL had enhanced magnetic resonance imaging ability by targeting macrophages in AP and good ability to discriminate between mild and severe AP. We believe that M-Gd-NL could shed new light on the diagnosis of AP in the near future.Keywords: acute pancreatitis, Gd-DTPA, liposomes, macrophages, mannose receptors