Cobalt Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles as a Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging Agent: An In vitro Study

Background: Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNP) have been used for contrast enhancement in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In recent years, research on the use of ferrite nanoparticles in T2 contrast agents has shown a great potential application in MR imaging. In this work, Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 and Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4-DMSA magnetic nanoparticles, CZF-MNPs and CZF-MNPs-DMSA, were investigated as MR imaging contrast agents. Methods: Cobalt zinc ferrite nanoparticles and their suitable coating, DMSA, were investigated under in vitro condition. Human prostate cancer cell lines (DU145 and PC3) with bare (uncoated) and coated magnetic nanoparticles were investigated as nanocontrast MR imaging agents. Results: Using T2-weighted MR images identified that signal intensity of bare and coated MNPs was enhanced with increasing concentration of MNPs in water. The values of 1/T2 relaxivity (r2) for bare and coated MNPs were found to be 88.46 and 28.80 (mM–1 s–1), respectively. Conclusion: The results show that bare and coated MNPs are suitable as T2-weighted MR imaging contrast agents. Also, the obtained r2/r1 values (59.3 and 50) for bare and coated MNPs were in agreement with the results of other previous relevant works.