Dextrin-coated zinc substituted cobalt-ferrite nanoparticles as an MRI contrast agent: In vitro and in vivo imaging studies

• Dextrin-coated Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 superparamagnetic nanoparticles were synthesized for the first time.
• The nanoparticles were characterized by various methods.
• The nanoparticles could effectively increase the image contrast in both T2 and T2* weighted images.

Application of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) as a negative contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been of widespread interest. These particles can enhance contrast of images by altering the relaxation times of the water protons. In this study, dextrin-coated zinc substituted cobalt-ferrite (Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4) NPs were synthesized by a co-precipitation method, and the morphology, size, structure and magnetic properties of the NPs were investigated. These NPs had superparamagnetic behavior with an average size of 3.9 (±0.9, n = 200) nm measured by transmission electron microscopy. Measurements on the relaxivities (r2 and r2*) of the NPs were performed in vitro by agarose phantom. In addition, after subcutaneous injection of the NPs into C540 cell line in C-57 inbred mice, the relaxivities were measured in vivo by a 1.5 T MRI system. These NPs could effectively increase the image contrast in both T2-and T2*-weighted samples.

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