A Facile Synthesis, In vitro and In vivo MR Studies of <scp>d</scp>-Glucuronic Acid-Coated Ultrasmall Ln₂O₃ (Ln = Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, and Er) Nanoparticles as a New Potential MRI Contrast Agent

Abstract

A facile one-pot synthesis of d-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Ln(2)O(3) (Ln = Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, and Er) nanoparticles is presented. Their water proton relaxivities were studied to address their possibility as a new potential MRI contrast agent. We focused on the d-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Dy(2)O(3) nanoparticle because it showed the highest r(2) relaxivity among studied nanoparticles. Its performance as a T(2) MRI contrast agent was for the first time proved in vivo through its 3 T T(2) MR images of a mouse, showing that it can be further exploited for the rational design of a new T(2) MRI contrast agent at high MR fields.