Investigation of cyano-bridged coordination nanoparticles Gd3+/[Fe(CN)6]3−/d-mannitol as T1-weighted MRI contrast agents

Abstract

Cyano-bridged Gd³⁺/[Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ coordination polymer nanoparticles of 3–4 nm stabilized with D-mannitol presenting a high r₁ relaxivity value of 11.4 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹ were investigated in vivo as contrast agents (CA) for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). They allow an increase of the MR image contrast and can act as an efficient intravascular T₁ CA with a relatively long blood-circulation lifetime (60 min) without specific toxicity.