title: Imaging the urinary pathways in mice by liposomal indocyanine green.
abstract: Intraoperative ureter identification can assist in the prevention of ureteral injury and consequently improve surgery outcomes. Our aim was to take advantage of the altered pharmacokinetics of liposomal indocyanine green (ICG), the only FDA-approved near-infrared (NIR) dye, for imaging of ureters during surgeries. ICG was passively adsorbed to liposomes. NIR whole mice body and isolated tissue imaging were used to study liposomal ICG properties vs. free ICG. In vivo, the urinary bladder could be clearly observed in most of the liposome-treated mice. Liposomal encapsulation of ICG enhanced ureteral emission up to 1.9 fold compared to free ICG (P<0.01). Increase in liposomal micropolarity and microviscosity and differential scanning calorimetry supported ICG localization within the liposomal bilayer. Our findings suggest that liposomal ICG could be utilized for ureteral imaging intra-operatively, thus potentially improving surgical outcomes.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Iatrogenic ureteral injury is a serious complication of abdominal surgery and intra-operative recognition of the ureters is usually the best method of injury prevention. In this article, the authors developed liposomal indocyanine green, which could be excreted via the urinary system and investigated its in-vivo use in mice.
authors: Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; Casali Center for Applied Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Emma
authors: E
authors: Portnoy
authors: Department of General Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors: Eran
authors: E
authors: Nizri
authors: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Jacob
authors: J
authors: Golenser
authors: Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Miriam
authors: M
authors: Shmuel
authors: Casali Center for Applied Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Shlomo
authors: S
authors: Magdassi
authors: Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: sarae@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Eyal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D007208:Indocyanine Green / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008081:Liposomes; D051379:Mice; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D014513:Ureter / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D008081:Liposomes; D007208:Indocyanine Green
keywords: Abdominal surgeries; Indocyanine green; Liposomes; Near-infrared imaging; Ureters imaging