Simple Host–Guest Assembly for High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Microvasculature

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is an important imaging technique that can be used to identify and characterize various types of vascular diseases. However, currently used molecular contrast agents are unsuitable for MRA due to the short intravascular retention time, the whole-body distribution, and the relatively low contrast effect. In this study, we developed a vascular analysis contrast agent ( i.e., VasCA) for MRA, which is a simple and biocompatible 1:1 host–guest assembly of PEGylated β-cyclodextrin and gadolinium chelate with renal clearable size and high relaxivity ( r 1 = 9.27 mM –1 s –1 ). Its biocompatibility was confirmed by in vivo animal studies as well as in vitro 3D cell culture. In a tumor-bearing rat model, VasCA circulated in the blood vessels much longer (4.3-fold increase) than gadoterate meglumine (Dotarem) and was mainly excreted by the renal system after int…