Mucosal tissues play critical roles in health and disease as the primary barrier between the external world and the inner body, lining the digestive, respiratory, urinary, mammary, and reproductive tracts. Clinical evaluation of mucosal tissues is currently performed using endoscopy, such as ileocolonoscopy for the intestinal mucosa, which causes substantial patient discomfort and can lead to organ damage. Here, we developed a contrast agent for molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that is targeted to mucosal vascular addressin cell adhesion molecule 1 (MAdCAM-1), an adhesion molecule overexpressed by inflamed mucosal tissues. We investigated the diagnostic performance of molecular MRI of MAdCAM-1 to detect mucosal inflammation in several models of acute and chronic intestinal inflammation in mice. We demonstrated that molecular MRI of MAdCAM-1 reveals disease activity and can evaluate the response to inflammatory treatments along the whole intestinal mucosa in clinically relevant models of inflammatory bowel diseases. We also provide evidence that this technique can detect low, subclinical mucosal inflammation. Molecular MRI of MAdCAM-1 has potential applications in early diagnosis, longitudinal follow-up, and therapeutic response monitoring in diseases affecting mucosal tissues, such as inflammatory bowel diseases.

粘膜组织在健康和疾病中起着至关重要的作用，它是外部世界与体内之间的主要屏障，位于消化道，呼吸道，泌尿道，乳腺和生殖道之间。目前使用内窥镜检查例如肠结肠镜的结肠镜检查对粘膜组织进行临床评估，这会引起患者大量不适并可能导致器官损伤。在这里，我们开发了一种针对分子磁共振成像（MRI）的造影剂，该造影剂的靶标是粘膜血管寻址蛋白细胞粘附分子1（MAdCAM-1），这是一种由发炎的粘膜组织过度表达的粘附分子。我们调查了MAdCAM-1的分子MRI的诊断性能，以检测小鼠急性和慢性肠道炎症的几种模型中的粘膜炎症。我们证明了MAdCAM-1的分子MRI揭示了疾病的活动，并可以在临床相关的炎症性肠病模型中评估整个肠道粘膜对炎症治疗的反应。我们还提供了证据，表明该技术可以检测出较低的亚临床黏膜炎症。MAdCAM-1的分子MRI在影响粘膜组织的疾病（如炎症性肠病）的早期诊断，纵向随访和治疗反应监测中具有潜在的应用。