• Chunmei Ma, Ailian Liu, Yuanyuan Wang, Xiaoling Geng, Li Hao, Qingwei Song, Bo Sun, Heqing Wang, and Gang Zhao.
• Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China.
• Life Sci. 2014 Jul 17; 108 (2): 104-8.

AimsTo evaluate the hepatocyte phase of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI in the early diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis and assessment of liver function in a rat model.Main MethodsIn 2 groups of SD rats, liver fibrosis was induced in experimental animals by repetitive carbon tetrachloride injections, while the control group received saline injections. Five experimental rats and 2 control rats were randomly selected at weeks 4, 8, 12. One week after carbon tetrachloride administration, MRI (FIRM T1WI) scan was performed. Gd-EOB-DTPA (0.08mL) was injected into the rat's tail vein and hepatocyte phase images were obtained after 20min. The pre-enhanced phase and hepatocyte phase signal intensities (SI) were measured, and the relative contrast enhancement index (RCEI) was calculated. ANOVA analysis (LSD) of RCEI values in controls (n=6), hepatic fibrosis (n=7), and histopathologically-determined early cirrhosis group (n=6) was performed.Key FindingsRECI values showed a decreasing trend in the control group, hepatic fibrosis and early cirrhosis groups (1.11±0.43, 0.96±0.22, and 0.57±0.33, respectively). While the difference between the control and early cirrhosis groups was statistically significant (p=0.013), there was no significant difference in the hepatic fibrosis group vs the control (p=0.416) and the hepatic fibrosis group vs the early cirrhosis group (p=0.054).SignificanceHepatocyte phase RCEI values obtained with Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI scan indicate liver injury in hepatic fibrosis and early cirrhosis. RCEI values are helpful for early diagnosis of liver cirrhosis.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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