Iodinated nano-emulsions as contrast agents for preclinical X-ray imaging: Impact of the free surfactants on the pharmacokinetics.

This study presents new important aspects in the design of contrast agents for X-ray preclinical imaging. The first one is a new simple formulation of long circulating contrast agents, formulated from a commercial iodinated oil, and resulting in CT contrast agents containing more than twice the iodine concentration commercial contrast agents. The second point is a methodological aspect, utilizing tangential filtration for reducing the residual surfactants in the bulk phase and serving as well for concentrating droplets (and iodine) in the suspension. The last point is a more general aspect regarding the influence of the free surfactant on the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the nano-emulsion droplets on mice. We showed that cross-flow filtration is efficient for concentrating the droplets and reducing the concentration of free surfactant from 10wt.% to 1wt.%, without any changes in the nano-emulsion droplet morphologies or surface properties. We also showed that the presence of free surfactant has a significant impact on the elimination way of the nano-emulsion droplets, shared between liver and kidneys. The purified nano-emulsions are preferentially eliminated by the kidneys in contrast to raw nano-emulsions, predominantly eliminated by the liver. In practice, for two similar suspensions, half-life decreases from 4.1±1.10h to 2.5±0.77h before and after purification. Since the design and development of long circulating systems are critical in numerous domains, and not for preclinical CT imaging, this study presents important results in that field, taken under a formulation and technical point of view.