Effects of chemical forms of gadolinium on the spleen in mice after single intravenous administration

Toxicity Mechanisms of Gadolinium and Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents-A Review

Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) have been used for more than 30 years to improve magnetic resonance imaging, a crucial tool for medical diagnosis and treatment monitoring across multiple clinical settings. Studies have shown that exposure to GBCAs is associated with gadolinium release and tissue deposition that may cause short- and long-term toxicity in several organs, including the kidney, the main excretion organ of most GBCAs. Considering the increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease worldwide and that most of the complications following GBCA exposure are associated with renal dysfunction, the mechanisms underlying GBCA toxicity, especially renal toxicity, are particularly important. A better understanding of the gadolinium mechanisms of toxicity may contribute to clarify the safety and/or potential risks associated with the use of GBCAs. In this work, a review of the recent literature concerning gadolinium and GBCA mechanisms of toxicity was performed.

Data mining and analysis of the adverse events derived signals of 4 gadolinium-based contrast agents based on the US Food and drug administration adverse event reporting system

BACKGROUND

To detect and analyze risk signals of the drug-related adverse events (AEs) of 4 gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) (gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA), gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA), gadoteridol (Gd-HP-DO3A), and gadobutrol (Gd-BT-DO3A)) according to the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database and ensure the clinical safety.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The AEs that are associated with the 4 GBCAs were collected from the FAERS database from 2004Q1 to 2022Q3. The risk signals were mined using reporting odds ratio (ROR) and proportional reporting ratio (PRR).

RESULTS

424 risk signals were excavated, in which 151 risk signals were associated with Gd-DTPA, 93 risk signals were related to Gd-BOPTA, 79 risk signals were relevant to Gd-HP-DO3A, and 101 risk signals were associated with Gd-BT-DO3A. The AE signals involved 20 system organ classes (SOCs). Two of the top four SOCs were identical, namely 'skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders' and 'general disorders and administration site conditions.'

CONCLUSIONS

The safety signals of 4 GBCAs were detected, and the SOCs associated with the AEs of the 4 GBCAs were different. Besides, some AEs obtained in this study were not mentioned in the package inserts, which need more attention and research to ensure the clinical safety.

Ten years of gadolinium retention and deposition: ESMRMB-GREC looks backward and forward

In 2014, for the first time, visible hyperintensities on unenhanced T1-weighted images in the nucleus dentatus and globus pallidus of the brain were associated with previous Gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) injections and gadolinium deposition in patients with normal renal function. This led to a frenzy of retrospective studies with varying methodologies that the European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology Gadolinium Research and Educational Committee (ESMRMB-GREC) summarised in 2019. Now, after 10 years, the members of the ESMRMB-GREC look backward and forward and review the current state of knowledge of gadolinium retention and deposition. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Gadolinium deposition is associated with the use of linear GBCA but no clinical symptoms have been associated with gadolinium deposition. KEY POINTS : • Traces of Gadolinium-based contrast agent-derived gadolinium can be retained in multiple organs for a prolonged time. • Gadolinium deposition is associated with the use of linear Gadolinium-based contrast agents. • No clinical symptoms have been associated with gadolinium deposition.

From Nanothermometry to Bioimaging: Lanthanide-Activated KY3F10 Nanostructures as Biocompatible Multifunctional Tools for Nanomedicine

Lanthanide-activated fluoride-based nanostructures are extremely interesting multifunctional tools for many modern applications in nanomedicine, e.g., bioimaging, sensing, drug delivery, and photodynamic therapy. Importantly, environmental-friendly preparations using a green chemistry approach, as hydrothermal synthesis route, are nowadays highly desirable to obtain colloidal nanoparticles, directly dispersible in hydrophilic media, as physiological solution. The nanomaterials under investigation are new KY₃F₁₀-based citrate-capped core@shell nanostructures activated with several lanthanide ions, namely, Er³⁺, Yb³⁺, Nd³⁺, and Gd³⁺, prepared as colloidal water dispersions. A new facile microwave-assisted synthesis has been exploited for their preparation, with significant reduction of the reaction times and a fine control of the nanoparticle size. These core@shell multifunctional architectures have been investigated for use as biocompatible and efficient contrast agents for optical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT) techniques. These multifunctional nanostructures are also efficient noninvasive optical nanothermometers. In fact, the lanthanide emission intensities have shown a relevant relative variation as a function of the temperature, in the visible and near-infrared optical ranges, efficiently exploiting ratiometric intensity methods for optical thermometry. Importantly, in contrast with other fluoride hosts, chemical dissolution of KY₃F₁₀ citrate-capped nanocrystals in aqueous environment is very limited, of paramount importance for applications in biological fluids. Furthermore, due to the strong paramagnetic properties of lanthanides (e.g., Gd³⁺), and X-ray absorption of both yttrium and lanthanides, the nanostructures under investigation are extremely useful for MRI and CT imaging. Biocompatibility studies of the nanomaterials have revealed very low cytotoxicity in dfferent human cell lines. All these features point to a successful use of these fluoride-based core@shell nanoarchitectures for simultaneous diagnostics and temperature sensing, ensuring an excellent biocompatibility.