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Assessing Lymphatic Uptake of Lipids Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Feasibility Study in Healthy Human Volunteers with Potential Application for Tracking Lymph Node Delivery of Drugs and Formulation Excipients

Authors :
Paul Gellert
Marianne Ashford
James Butler
Adelaide Jewell
Penny A. Gowland
Michael J. Stocks
David J. Scurr
Snow Stolnik
Luca Marciani
Pavel Gershkovich
Caroline L. Hoad
Hannah E. Williams
Source :
Pharmaceutics, Volume 13, Issue 9, Pharmaceutics, Vol 13, Iss 1343, p 1343 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

Abstract

Dietary lipids and some pharmaceutical lipid excipients can facilitate the targeted delivery of drugs to the intestinal lymphatics. Here, the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for imaging lipid uptake into the intestinal lymphatics was assessed, shedding light on which lymph nodes can be targeted using this approach. Three healthy male volunteers were scanned at 3.0 T at baseline, 120, 180, 240, and 300 min post high-fat meal. A sagittal multi-slice image was acquired using a diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging sequence with background suppression (DWIBS) (pre inversion TI = 260 ms). Changes in area, major, and minor axis length were compared at each time point. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated (b = 0 and 600 s/mm2) across eight slices. An average of 22 nodes could be visualised across all time points. ADC increased at 120 and 180 min compared to the baseline in all three participants by an average of 9.2% and 6.8%, respectively. In two participants, mean node area and major axis lengths increased at 120 and 180 min relative to the baseline. In conclusion, the method described shows potential for repeated lymph node measurements and the tracking of lipid uptake into the lymphatics. Further studies should focus on methodology optimisation in a larger cohort.

Details

ISSN :
19994923
Volume :
13
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Pharmaceutics
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....eb681cf792364a5f8369632beb1c5019
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13091343