The fate of Gd and chelate following intravenous injection of gadodiamide in rats

OBJECTIVE: The biodistribution of gadolinium (Gd) and chelate was studied in rats injected intravenously with a commercially available gadodiamide magnetic resonance contrast agent spiked with trace amounts of (14)C-labelled GdDTPA-BMA. METHODS: Biodistribution of the (14)C-labelled ligand in whole animals was visualised using quantitative whole-body autoradiography, and quantified in individual tissue samples by analysing for radioactivity using beta-counting. Biodistribution of Gd was measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SF-MS). RESULTS: The injected dose was rapidly excreted, with only 1.0% remaining in the body at 24 h. The radioactivity thereafter was mainly associated with kidney cortex, liver, lung, muscle and skin, with a similar rate of clearance for both ligand and Gd from these tissues. The ratio between (14)C-labelled substance and Gd was not significantly different from that of the injected substance in most tissue samples up to 24 h after injection; the ratio then slowly decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The data clearly show that measurements of Gd concentration alone in tissue samples from animals injected with Gd-based contrast agents (GBCAs) cannot be used as a measure of Gd released from the ligand. To our knowledge, such measurements comparing Gd and ligand concentrations and distribution in tissue samples have not been published previously for any of the commercial GBCAs.