Renal and hepatic artery embolization with Pickering gel emulsion of lipiodol in rabbit

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel liquid embolic agent Pickering gel emulsion of lipiodol (PGEL) for renal and hepatic artery embolization in the rabbit experimental model. METHODS: Embolization was performed in the right renal artery of 24 adult New Zealand White rabbits and 24 VX2 tumors in the left liver lobe. The rabbits were randomly allocated to four treatment groups (n = 6 per group): (A) normal saline (NS), (B) lipiodol, (C) 180–300 μm polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and (D) PGEL. RESULTS: Renal artery embolization in normal rabbits and transarterial embolization (TAE) in VX2 tumor-bearing rabbits indicated that PGEL achieved a better embolization effect for a longer time than lipiodol and PVA. The tumor growth ratio of the PGEL group was significantly lower than that of the NS, lipiodol, and PVA groups at 3 (P < 0.001) and 7 (P < 0.001) days after embolization. In addition, hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical staining revealed that the tumor necrosis ratio was higher in the PGEL group than in the NS, lipiodol, and PVA groups (P < 0.01), and the expression levels of HIF-1α, VEGF, and CD31 decreased after PGEL embolization compared with the lipiodol and PVA treatments. CONCLUSION: PGEL is an effective embolic material that provides immediate and total occlusion of the renal artery and may be a potential therapeutic embolic agent for TAE of HCC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-10337-5.