Noninvasive and real-time pharmacokinetics imaging of polymeric nanoagents in the thoracoepigastric vein networks of living mice

Abstract

© The Authors. Noninvasive and real-time visualization of the thoracoepigastric veins (TVs) of living mice was demonstrated by using two-photon excitation (TPE) optical imaging with a Eu-luminescent polymeric nanoagent as the angiographic contrast. The spatiotemporal evolution of the polymeric nanoagent in TVs was monitored for up to 2 h by TPE time-resolved (TPE-TR) bioimaging, which is free from the interference of tissue autofluorescence. A wide field-of-view covering the thoracoabdominal region allowed the visualization of the entire TV network with an imaging depth of 1 to 2 mm and a lateral resolution of 80 μm at submillimeter. Detailed analysis of the uptake, transport, and clearance processes of the polymeric nanoagent revealed a clearance time constant of 1/430 min and an apparent clearance efficiency of 80% to 90% for the nanoagent in both axial and lateral TVs. TPE-TR imaging of the dissected internal organs proved that the liver is mainly responsible for the sequestration of the nanoagent, which is consistent with the apparent retention efficiency of liver, 1/432 %, as determined by the real-time in vivo TV imaging. We demonstrate the potency of TPE-TR modality in the pharmacokinetics imaging of the peripheral vascular systems of animal models, which can be beneficial for related nanotheranostics study.