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September 5, 2025Open Access

Current Status and Future Aspects of Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles as Positive Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents

Key Points

Gadolinium oxide nanoparticles exhibit promising properties as T1 MRI contrast agents, yet significant toxicity assessments are necessary.
Their relaxivities notably surpass those of approved gadolinium chelates, showing robust contrast enhancement in animal studies.
This review covers synthesis, characterization, and in vivo applications of these nanoparticles, along with their toxicity profiles.
Future directions emphasize the need for advances in formulation for renal excretion, aiming for clinical application.

Abstract

Although numerous studies have investigated gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) as positive (T1) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CAs), comprehensive reviews on this topic remain scarce. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate their current status and outline prospects. Despite promising physicochemical properties such as considerably higher relaxivities compared to 3–5 s−1mM−1 of clinically approved Gd(III)-chelate contrast agents and encouraging results from in vivo animal studies such as highly improved contrast enhancements, drug loading, and tumor targeting, extensive in vivo toxicity assessments including long-term toxicity and formulation advancements suitable for renal excretion (d < ~3 nm) are still required for clinical translation. This review summarizes the synthesis, characterization, in vitro and in vivo toxicity, and in vivo MRI applications of surface-modified Gd2O3 NPs as T1 MRI CAs. Finally, future perspectives on the development of surface-modified Gd2O3 NPs as potential next-generation T1 MRI CAs are discussed.

Current Status and Future Aspects of Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles as Positive Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents

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Abstract

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