New Study Finds Gadolinium in Rodents Lingers for One Year

Washington, DCAs more is written about MRI health risks in relation to MRI and kidney failure, more research is emerging with regard to the length of time gadolinium can linger on the skin. Gadolinium, an imaging agent commonly used during MRI to enhance the image for doctors, is thought to be relatively safe given the body's capacity to expel the material within a reasonable time frame. However for patients suffering from gadolinium kidney failure, the agent can stay in the body longer than safety might allow.

The concern over gadolinium is its relationship with the onset of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), a rare but extremely debilitating condition that negatively impacts the skin. NSF patients experience a hardening of the skin that is especially frustrating in relation to joints such as elbows, knees and shoulders. Attempting movement can crack the now-brittle skin, to the point where movement becomes virtually impossible.

NSF patients are literally entombed in their own skin. There is no cure.

Various studies have determined that while gadolinium is toxic to the human body, a healthy kidney's ability to flush out the imaging agent within a reasonable time frame effectively mitigates most concern.

The problems occur when kidneys are not functioning properly, thereby limiting a patient's ability to have the chemical flushed effectively from their system. Kidney patients who require gadolinium for MRI procedures are now being recommended for immediate dialysis in order to rid the body of gadolinium.

In an unrelated event, a new study has sought to determine just how long it takes for gadolinium to be eliminated from skin tissue.

In the most recent edition of European Radiology, researchers injected a collection of Han-Wistar rats with seven different gadolinium-based contrasting agents (GBCA).
The injections, into the tail veins of the rodents, occurred over five consecutive days with gadolinium concentrations measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry via skin biopsies that were performed up to a year after the most recent injection.

Researchers found that most of the gadolinium had been expelled from the skin after about two months. However, the researchers noted that repeated administration of linear GBCAs resulted in more long-term retention of a smaller amount of gadolinium in the skin tissue.

Researchers found there was a difference in retention time according to whether iconic linear GBCAs were used, rather than non-iconic linear agents. According to H. Pietsch and colleagues writing in European Radiology, gadolinium values in the skin following treatment with macrocyclic GBCAs were observed to be in the same range as those levels observed in the control rodents "from Day 24 post-injection onwards."

The researchers concluded: "In summary, we observed a correlation between the complex stability of GBCAs and the amount of residual gadolinium in the skin up to a year after application of GBCAs."

The study, entitled 'Long-term retention of gadolinium in the skin of rodents following the administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents,' was based in Germany.

The study adds more fuel to the fire and more fodder for critics who decry gadolinium and gadolinium-based contrasting agents as a serious issue linked to MRI health risks. Another recent study indicated that among patients with advanced kidney disease, patients were 27 times more likely to develop NSF after gadolinium exposure, than those not exposed to gadolinium at all. Thus the issue of MRI and kidney failure together with the combination of gadolinium administration and kidney failure, poses a serious risk for kidney patients. And the more studies there are, the worse it appears….