Experimental MRI Monitoring of Renal Blood Volume Fraction Variations En Route to Renal Magnetic Resonance Oximetry

Diagnosis of early-stage acute kidney injury (AKI) will benefit from a timely identification of local tissue hypoxia. Renal tissue hypoxia is an early feature in AKI pathophysiology, and renal oxygenation is increasingly being assessed through T(2)*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, changes in renal blood volume fraction (BVf) confound renal T(2)*. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of intravascular contrast-enhanced MRI for monitoring renal BVf during physiological interventions that are concomitant with variations in BVf and to explore the possibility of correcting renal T(2)* for BVf variations. A dose-dependent study of the contrast agent ferumoxytol was performed in rats. BVf was monitored throughout short-term occlusion of the renal vein, which is known to markedly change renal blood partial pressure of O(2) and BVf. BVf calculated from MRI measurements was used to estimate oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (SO(2)). BVf and SO(2) were benchmarked against cortical data derived from near-infrared spectroscopy. As estimated from magnetic resonance parametric maps of T(2) and T(2)*, BVf was shown to increase, whereas SO(2) was shown to decline during venous occlusion (VO). This observation could be quantitatively reproduced in test–retest scenarios. Changes in BVf and SO(2) were in good agreement with data obtained from near-infrared spectroscopy. Our findings provide motivation to advance multiparametric MRI for studying AKIs, with the ultimate goal of translating MRI-based renal BVf mapping into clinical practice en route noninvasive renal magnetic resonance oximetry as a method of assessing AKI and progression to chronic damage.