Ulrich
Flgel1, Su Song2, Inga Kreidewei1,
Zhaoping Ding1, Oliver Witzke2, Jrgen Schrader1
1Institut fr Herz- und
Kreislaufphysiologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universitt, Dsseldorf, NRW, Germany; 2Klinik
fr Nephrologie, Universittsklinikum Essen, Germany
This
study was aimed at developing an approach for the early in vivo detection of organ rejection in a murine heterotopic
abdominal heart transplantation model. As contrast agent emulsified
perfluorocarbons (PFCs) were used, which are biochemically inert and are
known to be phagocytized by monocytes/macrophages. 1H/19F
MRI enabled us to detect the initial immune response not later than 3 days
after surgery, when conventional parameters did not reveal any signs of
rejection. The results show that intravenously applied PFCs accumulate in
areas affected by rejection and can be sensitively detected by 1H/19F
MRI at a field strength of 9.4 T.