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(Circulation. 2008;118:140-148.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Imaging

In Vivo Monitoring of Inflammation After Cardiac and Cerebral Ischemia by Fluorine Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Ulrich Flögel, PhD; Zhaoping Ding, MD; Hendrik Hardung, PhG; Sebastian Jander, MD; Gaby Reichmann, PhD; Christoph Jacoby, PhD; Rolf Schubert, PhD; Jürgen Schrader, MD

From the Institut für Herz- und Kreislaufphysiologie (U.F., Z.D., C.J., J.S.) and Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Krankenhaushygiene (G.R.), Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf; Lehrstuhl für Pharmazeutische Technologie und Biopharmazie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg (H.H., R.S.); and Neurologische Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (S.J.), Germany.

Correspondence to Ulrich Flögel, PhD, Institut für Herz- und Kreislaufphysiologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Postfach 101007, 40001 Düsseldorf, Germany. E-mail floegel{at}uni-duesseldorf.de

Received September 4, 2007; accepted April 28, 2008.

Background— In this study, we developed and validated a new approach for in vivo visualization of inflammatory processes by magnetic resonance imaging using biochemically inert nanoemulsions of perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Methods and Results— Local inflammation was provoked in 2 separate murine models of acute cardiac and cerebral ischemia, followed by intravenous injection of PFCs. Simultaneous acquisition of morphologically matching proton (¹H) and fluorine (¹⁹F) images enabled an exact anatomic localization of PFCs after application. Repetitive ¹H/¹⁹F magnetic resonance imaging at 9.4 T revealed a time-dependent infiltration of injected PFCs into the border zone of infarcted areas in both injury models, and histology demonstrated a colocalization of PFCs with cells of the monocyte/macrophage system. We regularly found the accumulation of PFCs in lymph nodes. Using rhodamine-labeled PFCs, we identified circulating monocytes/macrophages as the main cell fraction taking up injected nanoparticles.

Conclusions— PFCs can serve as a "positive" contrast agent for the detection of inflammation by magnetic resonance imaging, permitting a spatial resolution close to the anatomic ¹H image and an excellent degree of specificity resulting from the lack of any ¹⁹F background. Because PFCs are nontoxic, this approach may have a broad application in the imaging and diagnosis of numerous inflammatory disease states.

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CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE

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Clinical Summaries
Circulation 2008 118: 105-106. [Extract] [Full Text]

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