A Facile Synthesis, In vitro and In vivo MR Studies of D-Glucuronic Acid-Coated Ultrasmall Ln2O3 (Ln = Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, and Er) Nanoparticles as a New Potential MRI Contrast Agent

A facile one-pot synthesis of D-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Ln(2)O(3) (Ln = Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, and Er) nanoparticles is presented. Their water proton relaxivities were studied to address their possibility as a new potential MRI contrast agent. We focused on the D-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Dy2O3 nanoparticle because it showed the highest r(2) relaxivity among studied nanoparticles. Its performance as a T-2 MRI contrast agent was for the first time proved in vivo through its 3 T T-2 MR images of a mouse, showing that it can be further exploited for the rational design of a new T-2 MRI contrast agent at high MR fields.