Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2015; 21(26): 8043-8051
Published online Jul 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i26.8043
Contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography using ExiTron nano6000 for assessment of liver injury
Xiang-Wei Hua, Tian-Fei Lu, Da-Wei Li, Wei-Gang Wang, Jun Li, Zhen-Ze Liu, Wei-Wei Lin, Jian-Jun Zhang, Qiang Xia
Xiang-Wei Hua, Tian-Fei Lu, Da-Wei Li, Jian-Jun Zhang, Qiang Xia, Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
Wei-Gang Wang, Jun Li, Zhen-Ze Liu, Department of Phenotype Analysis, Shanghai Research Center For Model Organisms, Shanghai 200123, China
Wei-Wei Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Fund, No. 81270558.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institutional Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (approval number: SYKX-2008-0050).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at xiaqiang@shsmu.edu.cn. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Qiang Xia, Professor, Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1630 Dongfang Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai 200127, China. xiaqiang@shsmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-21-68383775 Fax: +86-21-58737232
Received: November 21, 2014
Peer-review started: November 23, 2014
First decision: January 22, 2015
Revised: February 13, 2015
Accepted: March 30, 2015
Article in press: March 31, 2015
Published online: July 14, 2015
Processing time: 234 Days and 12.6 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To explore the potential of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) using ExiTron nano6000 for assessment of liver lesions in mouse models.

METHODS: Three mouse models of liver lesions were used: bile duct ligation (BDL), lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/D-galactosamine (D-GalN), and alcohol. After injection with the contrast agent ExiTron nano6000, the mice were scanned with micro-CT. Liver lesions were evaluated using CECT images, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and serum aminotransferase levels. Macrophage distribution in the injury models was shown by immunohistochemical staining of CD68. The in vitro studies measured the densities of RAW264.7 under different conditions by CECT.

RESULTS: In the in vitro studies, CECT provided specific and strong contrast enhancement of liver in mice. CECT could present heterogeneous images and densities of injured livers induced by BDL, LPS/D-GalN, and alcohol. The liver histology and immunochemistry of CD68 demonstrated that both dilated biliary tracts and necrosis in the injured livers could lead to the heterogeneous distribution of macrophages. The in vitro study showed that the RAW264.7 cell masses had higher densities after LPS activation.

CONCLUSION: Micro-CT with the contrast agent ExiTron nano6000 is feasible for detecting various liver lesions by emphasizing the heterogeneous textures and densities of CECT images.

Keywords: Micro-computed tomography; ExiTron Nano6000; Liver injury

Core tip: Noninvasive methods have been extensively studied for examining injuries in small animals in preclinical research. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) with ExiTron nano6000 could detect various liver lesions by emphasizing the heterogeneous textures and densities of CECT images. The phenomenon is probably due to the changes in macrophage distribution, number, and function.