Noninvasive Assessment of Kidney Injury by Combining Structure and Function Using Artificial Intelligence-Based Manganese-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Journal: ACS applied materials & interfaces
PMID:

Abstract

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is seriously limited in kidney injury detection due to the nephrotoxicity of clinically used gadolinium-based contrast agents. Herein, we propose a noninvasive method for the assessment of kidney injury by combining structure and function information based on manganese (Mn)-enhanced MRI for the first time. As a proof of concept, the Mn-melanin nanoprobe with good biocompatibility and excellent T1 relaxivity is applied in MRI of a unilateral ureteral obstruction mice model. The abundant renal structure and function information is obtained through qualitative and quantitative analysis of MR images, and a brand new comprehensive assessment framework is proposed to precisely identify the degree of kidney injury successfully. Our study demonstrates that Mn-enhanced MRI is a promising approach for the highly sensitive and biosafe assessment of kidney injury in vivo.

Authors

  • Li Zhou
    School of Education, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China.
  • Zizhen Yang
    Department of Radiology, Ningbo No.2 Hospital, Ningbo 315012, China.
  • Li Guo
    Department of Dental Implantology, Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Institute of Stomatology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
  • Quan Zou
  • Hong Zhang
    Department of Anesthesiology and Operation, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
  • Shao-Kai Sun
    School of Medical Imaging, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300203, China.
  • Zhaoxiang Ye
    Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Huanhuxi Road, Hexi District, Tianjin 300060, China. Electronic address: yezhaoxiang@163.com.
  • Cai Zhang
    State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjia Lane, Nanjing 210009, China.