title: Bioinorganic transformations of liver iron deposits observed by tissue magnetic characterisation in a rat model.
abstract: The magnetic properties and the ultrastructure, with special emphasis on the nanometric range, of liver tissues in an iron overload rat model have been investigated. The tissues of the animals, sacrificed at different times after a single iron dextran injection, have been characterised by magnetic AC susceptibility measurements together with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) as helping techniques. It has been observed that few days after the iron administration the liver contains at least two iron species: (i) akaganéite nanoparticles, coming from iron dextran and (ii) ferrihydrite nanoparticles corresponding to ferritin. The magnetic susceptibility of the tissues depends not only on the elemental iron content but also on its distribution among chemical species, and varies in a remarkable regular manner as a function of the elapsed time since the iron administration. The results are of relevance with respect to non-invasive techniques for liver iron determination, directly or indirectly based on the magnetic susceptibility of the tissues, as biomagnetic liver susceptometry (BLS) and magnetic resonance (MRI) image treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales y Fluidos, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Lázaro
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abadía
authors.forename: María S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quintana
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puerto Morales
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patiño
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arranz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005293:Ferritins / Q000378:metabolism; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D007505:Iron-Dextran Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D007505:Iron-Dextran Complex; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron