title: Dyke Award. Europium-DTPA: a gadolinium analogue traceable by fluorescence microscopy.
abstract: A lanthanide series chelate, europium(Eu)-DTPA, was synthesized to serve as a histochemical analogue for the widely used MR contrast agent gadolinium(Gd)-DTPA. Eu and Gd, being neighboring elements on the periodic table, share many fundamental properties, including ionic radius, valence, and chemical reactivity. Eu-DTPA, however, possesses one important physical property not shared by Gd-DTPA: luminescence under ultraviolet light. The feasibility of detecting Eu-DTPA in animal tissues under fluorescence microscopy was systematically evaluated and documented. Distinctive orange-red luminescence of Eu-DTPA could be observed in the kidneys, livers, dura, choroid, and pituitary glands of rats after intravascular injection. No luminescence was detected in areas of brain beyond an intact blood-brain barrier. When the brain was locally injured by an experimental laceration, however, leakage of Eu-DTPA was detected. Electron probe microanalysis confirmed the parallel presence or absence of simultaneously injected Eu-DTPA and Gd-DTPA in all tissues studied. Fluorescence microscopy with Eu-DTPA has thus been validated as a method for tracing the distribution of Gd-DTPA at the microscopic level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Elster
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Jackels
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Marrache
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D005063:Europium; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D005063:Europium; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA