After intravenous injection, gadolinium(GBCA), commonly used for MR contrast, distributes from intravascular to the extravascular space and rapidly cleaned by renal excretion. This pharmacologic behavior makes GBCA unfavorable as in blood pool agent. One potential alternative agent is endogenous intracellular methemoglobin (MetHb), a paramagnetic molecule in our blood cells. Intracellular levels of MetHb can be increased by exposing blood to sodium nitrite. We evaluated change of T1 of blood according to a transient increase in intracellular MetHb in in vivo animal model. Our results demonstrated that MetHb modulation resulted T1 shortening of blood and soft tissue enhancement.
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