Andreas
Pohlmann1, Karen Arakelyan1, 2, Kathleen Cantow2, Jan Hentschel1, Bert
Flemming2, Mechthild Ladwig2, Erdmann Seeliger2, Thoralf Niendorf1, 3
1Berlin
Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max-Delbrueck Center for Molecular
Medicine, Berlin, Germany; 2Institute of Physiology, Center for
Cardiovascular Research, Charit, Berlin, Germany; 3Experimental
and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Charit Medical
Faculty and the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany
X-ray contrast media (CM) are usually well tolerated, but can cause acute kidney injury (AKI). Medullary hypoxia is pivotal in the pathophysiology of CM-induced AKI. BOLD-MRI is increasingly used to monitor kidney oxygenation. We studied the effects of injecting a CM into the thoracic aorta on renal T2*/T2 in rats. The CM effects were benchmarked against pathophysiologically relevant reversible interventions: brief periods of hypoxia and aortic occlusion. T2*/T2 mappings during hypoxia and aortic occlusion correspond qualitatively with previous data obtained by invasive tissue pO2 measurements. T2* mapping after CM corroborates invasively obtained data and demonstrates that CM affects medullary oxygenation.