Achieving safe and high-performance gastrointestinal tract spectral CT imaging with small-molecule lanthanide complex

BACKGROUND: Non-intrusive imaging of gastrointestinal (GI) tract using computed tomography (CT) contrast agents is of the most significant issues in the diagnosis and treatment of GI diseases. Moreover, spectral CT, which can generate monochromatic images to display the X-ray attenuation characteristics of contrast agents, provides a better imaging sensitivity for diagnose inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than convention CT imaging. METHODS: Herein, a convenient and one-pot synthesis method is provided for the fabrication of small-molecule lanthanide complex Holmium-tetraazacyclododecane-1, 4, 7, 10-tetraacetic acid (Ho-DOTA) as a biosafe and high-performance spectral CT contrast agent for GI imaging with IBD. In vivo CT imaging was administered with both healthy mice and colitis mice induced by dextran sodium sulfate. RESULTS: We found that Ho-DOTA accumulated in inflammation sites of large intestines and produced high CT contrast compared with healthy mice. Both in vitro and in vivo experimental results also showed that Ho-DOTA provided much more diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy due to the excellent X-ray attenuation characteristics of Ho-DOTA compared with clinical iodinate agent. Furthermore, the proposed contrast media could be timely excreted from the body via the urinary and digestive system, keeping away from the potential side effects due to long-term retention in vivo. CONCLUSION: Accordingly, Ho-DOTA with excellent biocompatibility can be useful as a potential high-performance spectral CT contrast agent for further clinical imaging of gastrointestinal tract and diagnosis of intestinal system diseases. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40824-023-00463-x.