The aim of this study was to synthesize and characterize the dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) cobalt–zinc (Co–Zn) ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) and their efficiency as a contrast agent in in vivo MR imaging of rat liver. Co–Zn ferrite NPs were synthesized by the thermal decomposition method and stabilized by DMSA. The NPs were characterized by different analyses to study their physical and magnetic properties and were injected into 6 adult male rats. Liver MRI was performed to measure the signal intensity at different times. The average nanoparticle size was estimated at about 8 ± 1 nm using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The r 2 and r 2 * relaxivity of these particles were obtained at 32.85 and 168.96 mmol L −1 s −1 , respectively, using an agarose phantom imaged by MRI. In the in vivo condition, injection of SNPs (2.5 mg Fe/kg) showed negative contrast in a way that for T 2 and T 2 * weighted the maximum contrast enhancement was 58.46 and 77.13%, respectively. Regarding our results, the synthesized Co–Zn ferrite NPs stabilized by DMSA are appropriate agents for increasing the contrast in both T 2 and T 2 * weighted based on MR imaging in rat liver.

中文翻译：

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DMSA 包覆的钴锌铁氧体纳米颗粒的合成、表征和 MRI 应用：一项体内研究

本研究的目的是合成和表征二巯基丁二酸 (DMSA) 钴-锌 (Co-Zn) 铁氧体磁性纳米粒子 (NPs) 及其在大鼠肝脏体内 MR 成像中作为造影剂的效率。Co-Zn 铁氧体 NPs 通过热分解法合成并通过 DMSA 稳定。通过不同的分析来表征纳米颗粒以研究它们的物理和磁性特性，并被注射到 6 只成年雄性大鼠中。进行肝脏MRI以测量不同时间的信号强度。使用透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 估计平均纳米颗粒尺寸约为 8 ± 1 nm。这些粒子的 r 2 和 r 2 * 弛豫率分别在 32.85 和 168.96 mmol L -1 s -1 下获得，使用 MRI 成像的琼脂糖体模。在体内条件下，注射 SNP (2. 5 mg Fe/kg) 显示负对比度，对于 T 2 和 T 2 * 加权，最大对比度增强分别为 58.46 和 77.13%。关于我们的结果，由 DMSA 稳定的合成 Co-Zn 铁氧体 NPs 是增加基于大鼠肝脏 MR 成像的 T 2 和 T 2 * 加权对比度的合适试剂。