The Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Non-Invasive Assessment of Venofer® Biodistribution in Rats.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the potential of magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the biodistribution of exogenous iron within 24 h after one single injection of Venofer® (iron sucrose). METHODS: Venofer® was evaluated in vitro for its ability to generate contrast in MR images. Subsequently, iron disposition was assessed in rats with MRI, in vivo up to 3 h and post mortem at 24 h after injection of Venofer®, at doses of 10- and 40 mg/kg body weight (n = 2 × 4), or saline (n = 4). RESULTS: Within 10-20 min after injection of Venofer®, transverse relaxation rates (R2) clearly increased, representative of a local increase in iron concentration, in liver, spleen and kidney, including the kidney medulla and cortex. In liver and spleen R2 values remained elevated up to 3 h post injection, while the initial R2 increase in the kidney was followed by gradual decrease towards baseline levels. Bone marrow and muscle tissue did not show significant increases in R2 values. Whole-body post mortem MRI showed most prominent iron accumulation in the liver and spleen at 24 h post injection, which corroborated the in vivo results. CONCLUSIONS: MR imaging is a powerful imaging modality for non-invasive assessment of iron distribution in organs. It is recommended to use this whole-body imaging approach complementary to other techniques that allow quantification of iron disposition at a (sub)cellular level.

Response to oral sucrosomial iron supplementation in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The BARI-FER study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic intravenous iron administration is often required after bariatric surgery. Oral sucrosomial iron has a particular form of absorption and may represent an alternative treatment. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of switching to oral sucrosomial iron in patients receiving intravenous iron supplementation after bariatric surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on 40 women of childbearing age, of whom 20 were switched to oral sucrosomial iron, while 20 patients continued on intravenous iron sucrose every three months. RESULTS: No significant differences were seen in Hb, ferritin, and TSI levels before and after three months of treatment with sucrosomial iron. CONCLUSION: Oral sucrosomial iron could be an alternative in patients who require parenteral treatment with iron after bariatric surgery.

Dental pulp mesenchymal stem/stromal cells labeled with iron sucrose release exosomes and cells applied intra-nasally migrate to intracerebral glioblastoma.

We report on a simple iron oxide (Venofer) labeling procedure of dental pulp mesenchymal stem cells (DP-MSCs) and DP-MSCs transduced with yeast cytosinedeaminase::uracilphosphoribosyltransferase (yCD::UPRT-DP-MSCs). Venofer is a drug approved for intravenous application to treat iron deficiency anemia in patients. Venofer labeling did not affect DP-MSCs or yCD::UPRT-DP-MSCs viability and growth kinetics. Electron microscopy of labeled cells showed internalized Venofer nanoparticles in endosomes. MRI relativity measurement of Venofer labeled DP-MSCs in a phantom arrangement revealed that 100 cells per 0.1 ml were still detectable. DP-MSCs or yCD::UPRT-DP-MSCs and the corresponding Venofer labeled cells release exosomes into conditional medium (CM). CM from yCD::UPRT-DP-MSCs in the presence of a prodrug 5-fluorocytosine caused tumor cell death in a dose dependent manner. Iron labeled DP-MSCs or yCD::UPRT-DP-MSCs sustained their tumor tropism in vivo; intra-nasally applied cells migrated and specifically engrafted orthotopic glioblastoma xenografts in rats.