Immediate reaction to gadolinium based contrast agent with fatal outcome

In Vitro Toxicological Assessment of Gadodiamide in Normal Brain SVG P12 Cells

BACKGROUND/AIM

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique for evaluating patients with primary and metastatic tumors. The contrast agents improve the diagnostic accuracy of MRI. Large quantities of a contrast agent must be administrated into the patient to obtain useful images, which leads to cell injury. Gadolinium has been reported to cause central lobular necrosis of the liver and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. However, the toxicity caused on brain tissue is uncertain.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study mainly aimed on the in vitro study of high concentration (2 and 5-fold of normal concentration) gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), gadodiamide (Omniscan^®), on normal brain glial SVG P12 cells. MTT assay, DAPI staining, immunofluorescent staining, LysoTracker Red staining, and western blotting analysis were applied on the cells.

RESULTS

The viability of gadodiamide (1.3, 2.6, 5.2, 13 and 26 mM)-treated SVG P12 cells was significantly reduced after 24 h of incubation. Gadodiamide caused significant autophagic flux at 2.6, 5.2 and 13.0 mM as seen by acridine orange (AO) staining, LC-3-GFP and LysoTracker Red staining. The expression levels of autophagy-related proteins such as beclin-1, ATG-5, ATG-14 and LC-3 II were up-regulated after 24 h of gadodiamide incubation. Autophagy inhibitors including 3-methyladenine (3-MA), chloroquine (CQ) and bafilomycin A1 (Baf) significantly alleviated the autophagic cell death effect of gadodiamide on normal brain glial SVG P12 cells. Gadodiamide induced significant apoptotic effects at 5.2 mM and 13.0 mM as seen by DAPI staining and the pan-caspase inhibitor significantly alleviated the apoptotic effect. Gadodiamide at 5.2 mM and 13.0 mM inhibited antiapoptotic protein expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, while promoted pro-apoptotic protein expression levels of Bax, BAD, cytochrome c, Apaf-1, cleaved-caspase-9 and cleaved-caspase-3.

CONCLUSION

Normal brain glial SVG P12 cells treated with high concentrations of gadodiamide can undergo autophagy and apoptosis.

Case report of a patient who survived after cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock by anaphylactic reaction to gadolinium during magnetic resonance imaging

We report the case of a young adult which survived to anaphylactic shock caused by gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) contrast agent infusion. The patient had no comorbidities and previous history of allergic reactions to contrast agents and underwent elective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for parotid swelling. Seven years before he received intravenous GBCA administration during an MRI, which exact chemical composition is unknown, without any allergic reaction. After intravenous injection of GBCA for MRI the patient developed anaphylactic shock, causing respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, and cardiogenic shock after return of spontaneous circulation. Because of the rarity of the described event, this report has the aim to raise awareness in the healthcare personnel of the possibility of these life-threatening adverse reactions from GBCAs also in a patient without history of allergy to contrast agents and suggest a possible clinical management of these patients.