Search

Aim: To study the efficiency of multifunctional polymer-based superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (bioferrofluids) as a T 2 magnetic resonance contrast agent and their uptake and toxicity in liver., Materials & Methods: Mice were intravenously injected with bioferrofluids and Endorem ® . The magnetic resonance efficiency, uptake and in vivo toxicity were investigated by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological techniques., Results: Bioferrofluids are a good T 2 contrast agent with a higher r 2 /r 1 ratio than Endorem. Bioferrofluids have a shorter blood circulation time and persist in liver for longer time period compared with Endorem. Both bioferrofluids and Endorem do not generate any noticeable histological lesions in liver over a period of 60 days post-injection., Conclusion: Our bioferrofluids are powerful diagnostic tool without any observed toxicity over a period of 60 days post-injection., Competing Interests: Financial & competing interests disclosure Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation research grant MAT2014-54975-R, and from the Programa Operativo FEDER Aragón 2014-2020 ‘Construyendo Europa desde Aragón’, is gratefully acknowledged. Additional support from the Diputación General de Aragón (DGA-M4) is also acknowledged. LMA Ali acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation FPI research grants. The Servicio de Experimentación Animal (SAI), and servicio de Microscopia Electrónica de Materiales of Zaragoza University. P Marzola acknowledges financial support from Fondazione Cariverona (Verona, Italy) through the project ‘Verona Nanomedicine Initiative’ and from MIUR through FIRB project RBAP114AMK – RI.NA.ME. ‘Rete Integrata per la Nanomedicina’. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.