EVALUATION AND IMAGING OF THE BIODISTRIBUTION OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES IN CIRRHOSIS CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have emerged as promising multifunctional probes for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, with studies indicating their preferential accumulation in hepatic tissue following intravenous administration. This characteristic makes them a viable tool for the investigation of liver pathologies. AC biosusceptometry (ACB), a magnetic material detection system employing a gradiometric coil arrangement, enables the study of the biodistribution of these nanoparticles in biological systems. Through the acquisition of in vivo and ex vivo images and data, this methodology offers a minimally invasive and ionizing radiation free approach for the imaging diagnosis of liver diseases. In a study involving 20 male Wistar rats, one group was subjected to a liver cirrhosis induction protocol with Diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and Thioacetamide (TAA), while the control group received a saline solution. All animals were administered intravenous injections of MNPs (32mg/kg) and were monitored using the ACB system. The results, obtained through static imaging of the livers and individual analysis of the hepatic lobes, revealed a greater uptake of MNPs in the livers of the control group. This difference is attributed to structural alterations in the cirrhotic liver, such as sinusoidal capillarization and the development of shunts, which impede the uptake of the nanoparticles. It was concluded that the ACB system is effective for monitoring and quantifying MNPs in both healthy and cirrhotic livers, providing valuable information for the diagnosis of hepatic disorders. The combination of MNPs and the ACB system presents as an accessible, low-cost, and radiation-free method for evaluating biological functions, with the potential, through future enhancements, to become comparable to other magnetic imaging techniques.