ZnDPA-DOTA Targeted Contrast Agents for MRI Detection of Bacteria in a Mouse Model of Infection

Sona Saksena¹, Adnan Hirad¹, ², Stephen B. Pickup¹, Harish Poptani¹, Ari D. Goldberg¹, Anatoliy V. Popov¹, Edward James Delikatny¹

Bacterial infections, both localized and disseminated (bacteremia), are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the community and hospital settings. A robust method to noninvasively identify and localize pathogenic bacterial sources with high sensitivity and specificity would greatly aid in the timely diagnosis and treatment of bacteremia. In an animal model of localized bacterial infection, E. coli exposed to ZnDPA-DOTA-thiourea reduced T1 by a factor of three indicating binding of ZnDPA-DOTA-thiourea to bacteria. We demonstrate that detection of bacteria in an animal model is feasible via changes in T1 relaxation.