Ultrasound Imaging Based on Molecular Targeting for Quantitative Evaluation of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

The aim of the present study was to quantitatively diagnose and monitor the therapy response of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) with the use of targeted ultrasound (US) imaging. Targeted microbubbles (MBs) were fabricated, and the binding of intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) antibodies to MBs was observed. To establish a quantitative method based on targeted US imaging, contrast-enhanced US was applied for IRI rats. After andrographolide treatment, the IRI rats were subjected to the quantitative targeted US imaging for a therapeutic effect. Effective binding of ICAM-1 antibodies to MBs was observed. According to the quantitative targeted US imaging, the ICAM-1 normalized intensity difference (NID) in the IRI rats (38.7415.08%) was significantly higher than that in the control rats (10.08 +/- 2.52%, p=0.048). Further, different degrees of IRI (mild IRI, moderate to severe IRI) were distinguished by the use of the NID (37.14 +/- 2.14%, 22.34 +/- 1.08%, p=0.002). Analysis of mRNA expression demonstrated the accuracy of analyzing the NID by using quantitative targeted US imaging (R-2=0.7434, p<0.001). Andrographolide treatment resulted in an obviously weakened NID of ICAM-1 (17.7 +/- 4.8% vs 34.2 +/- 6.6%, p<0.001). The study showed the potential of the quantitative targeted US imaging method for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of IRI.