CEST Imaging of Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery using Iohexol liposomes at 3T

Image guided nose-to-brain drug delivery provides a non-invasive monitoring of drug delivery to the brain, which increases effective dose via bypassing Blood Brain Barrier(BBB). Here, we investigated the imaging of nanomedicine delivery via intranasal administration using CEST-detectable mucus penetrating liposome(with 10%PEG). Liposomes were loaded with Iohexol(Ioh-Lipo) and CEST properties both in-vitro and in-vivo were examined by injecting into the mouse nostril. Ioh-Lipo generated CEST contrast of 33.4% at 4.3 ppm in vitro. This specific CEST contrast was observed in the nostril, olfactory bulb and the frontal lobe after intranasal administration at 3T. We demonstrated the liposomes detectability both in nostril and olfactory bulb by CEST. The result demonstrates a robust approach for imaging-guided Nose-to-Brain Intranasal Liposomal Drug Delivery.