Gadolinium Distribution in the Kidney, Liver, and Heart of Wistar Rats after Administration of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an established non-invasive and non-destructive medical imaging modality for the assessment of various organ systems in the human body. Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent (GBCA) enhanced and improved images from MRI and was believed to be entirely excreted through urine in normal kidney function within 24 hours after injection. Previous studies identified gadolinium accumulations in the brain, bones, and skin of animals. This study evaluated gadolinium retention in normal kidneys, Liver, and heart of Wistar rats after administration of GBCAs in male Wistar rats. Twenty-five male Wistar rats of ages ≥ 5 weeks or ≤ 6 weeks in 4 experimental and 1 control groups were studied. Ethical considerations were obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Nigeria. Samples in experimental groups each administered 2.5 mls of 4 different GBCAs, and the control group same per day of saline intravenously through the lateral tail for five days a week and continued for 4 weeks. The kidney, Liver, and Heart tissues of these samples were harvested 4 weeks after the last injection and sent for spectrometry evaluation. Samples in the control group had no gadolinium accumulation. Groups administered gadopentetate dimeglumine, and gadodiamide had greater cardiac metrics (0.397 and 0.390). The higher renal metric was experienced by samples that received dotarem and cyclolux (0.397 and 0.377), though the sample exposed to cyclolux reported more Liver metric (0.407) than other concentrations. Wistar rats’ Kidneys, Liver, and Heart retained gadolinium weeks after injection of GBCAs. Keywords: Dotarem and Cyclolux, Gadolinium, Gadodiamide, Gadopentetate dimenglumine, Magnetic resonance imaging.