Detection of Kidney Dysfunction through In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Renal-Clearable Gadolinium Nanoprobes

Kidney dysfunction is a clinical syndrome that can subsequently result in lethal kidney failure. The exploration of emerging bioimaging contrast agents with translational potential is highly challenging for a feasible diagnosis of kidney dysfunction. Herein, a class of renal-clearable gadolinium nanoparticles (Gd@PEG NPs) with an ultrasmall size of ∼5 nm, good monodispersity, and T 1 relaxivity are synthesized using mesoporous silica nanoparticles as the template. Assisted by such renal-clearable Gd@PEG NPs, the diagnosis of kidney dysfunction in a mice model with a damaged kidney has been achieved through in vivo noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging. As a result, this work paves the way to synthesize monodispersible ultrasmall Gd contrast agents, facilitating the exploration of translational strategies for an in vivo analysis of kidney dysfunction.