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Objectives: This study was designed to identify macrophage-rich atherosclerotic plaque noninvasively by imaging the tissue uptake of long-circulating superparamagnetic nanoparticles with a positive contrast off-resonance imaging sequence (inversion recovery with ON-resonant water suppression [IRON])., Background: The sudden rupture of macrophage-rich atherosclerotic plaques can trigger the formation of an occlusive thrombus in coronary vessels, resulting in acute myocardial infarction. Therefore, a noninvasive technique that can identify macrophage-rich plaques and thereby assist with risk stratification of patients with atherosclerosis would be of great potential clinical utility., Methods: Experiments were conducted on a clinical 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in 7 heritable hyperlipidemic and 4 control rabbits. Monocrystalline iron-oxide nanoparticles (MION)-47 were administrated intravenously (2 doses of 250 mumol Fe/kg), and animals underwent serial IRON-MRI before injection of the nanoparticles and serially after 1, 3, and 6 days., Results: After administration of MION-47, a striking signal enhancement was found in areas of plaque only in hyperlipidemic rabbits. The magnitude of enhancement on magnetic resonance images had a high correlation with the number of macrophages determined by histology (p < 0.001) and allowed for the detection of macrophage-rich plaque with high accuracy (area under the curve: 0.92, SE: 0.04, 95% confidence interval: 0.84 to 0.96, p < 0.001). No significant signal enhancement was measured in remote areas without plaque by histology and in control rabbits without atherosclerosis., Conclusions: Using IRON-MRI in conjunction with superparamagnetic nanoparticles is a promising approach for the noninvasive evaluation of macrophage-rich, vulnerable plaques.

Objectives: We sought to determine the effect of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression on regional contractile function and left ventricular (LV) remodeling after reperfused myocardial infarction (MI)., Background: Inducible nitric oxide synthase is known to contribute to global LV dysfunction after a large MI, but the mechanisms underlying this dysfunction remain unclear., Methods: We used immunohistochemistry to investigate the distribution of iNOS expression in wild-type (WT) and iNOS knockout (KO) mice early (day 1) and late (day 28) after reperfused MI. We also used serial cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and at 1, 7, and 28 days after MI to assess LV volumes, ejection fraction (EF), regional circumferential strain (E(cc)), and day 1 infarct size., Results: At baseline, LV volumes and EF were similar between groups. Day 1 infarct size was also similar between groups. Immunohistochemistry revealed that iNOS expression was abundant throughout the heart in WT mice on day 1 after MI, particularly near the infarct borderzone. On day 7 after MI, E(cc) in KO mice was significantly improved in some borderzone sectors compared with WT. The LV volumes were significantly lower in KO mice at days 7 and 28 compared with WT. The EF on days 7 and 28 was significantly higher in KO mice compared with WT. The circumferential extent of wall thinning was also significantly reduced in KO versus WT mice at days 7 and 28., Conclusions: Expression of iNOS contributes importantly to post-infarction contractile dysfunction and subsequent LV remodeling, suggesting new strategies to combat heart failure resulting from large MI.