title: Non-toxic lead sulfide nanodots as efficient contrast agents for visualizing gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Non-invasive imaging of gastrointestinal (GI) tract using novel but efficient contrast agents is of the most important issues in the diagnosis and prognosis of GI diseases. Here, for the first time, we reported the design and synthesis of biothiol-decorated lead sulfide nanodots, as well as their usages in functional dual-modality imaging of GI tract in vivo. Due to the presence of glutathione on the surface of the nanodots, these well-prepared contrast agents could decrease the unwanted ion leakage, withstand the harsh conditions in GI tract, and avoid the systemic absorption after oral administration. Compared with clinical barium meal and iodine-based contrast agents, these nanodots exhibited much more significant enhancement in contrast efficiency during both 2D X-ray imaging and 3D CT imaging. Different from some conventional invasive imaging modalities, such as gastroscope and enteroscope, non-invasive imaging strategy by using glutathione modified PbS nanodots as contrast agents could reduce the painfulness towards patients, facilitate the imaging procedure, and economize the manipulation period. Moreover, long-term toxicity and bio-distribution of these nanodots after oral administration were evaluated in detail, which indicated their overall safety. Based on our present study, these nanodots could act as admirable contrast agents to integrate X-ray imaging and CT imaging for the direct visualization of GI tract.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
authors.forename: Yingda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China. Electronic address: jren@ciac.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China. Electronic address: xqu@ciac.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D051379:Mice; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013440:Sulfides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D013440:Sulfides; C018391:lead sulfide; D007854:Lead; D005978:Glutathione
keywords: Gastrointestinal tract; Lead sulfide; Non-invasive imaging; Toxicology