Water-soluble d-glucuronic acid coated ultrasmall mixed Ln/Mn (Ln = Gd and Dy) oxide nanoparticles and their application to magnetic resonance imaging.

Ultrasmall lanthanide oxide nanoparticles are promising materials as new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents because of their appreciable longitudinal (r1) or transverse (r2) water proton relaxivities at ultrasmall particle diameters. Two systems of d-glucuronic acid coated ultrasmall Ln/Mn (Ln = Gd and Dy) oxide nanoparticles with an average particle diameter of 2.0 nm were explored. The d-glucuronic acid coated ultrasmall Gd/Mn oxide nanoparticles showed strong positive contrast enhancements in 1.5 tesla T1 MR images while the d-glucuronic acid coated ultrasmall Dy/Mn oxide nanoparticles showed appreciable negative contrast enhancements in 1.5 tesla T2 MR images, proving their potential as T1 and T2 MRI contrast agents, respectively.