The stability of gadolinium-based contrast agents in human serum: A reanalysis of literature data and association with clinical outcomes.

PURPOSE: To reanalyze literature data of gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents (GBCAs) in plasma with a kinetic model of dissociation to provide a comprehensive assessment of equilibrium conditions for linear GBCAs.

METHODS: Data for the release of Gd from GBCAs in human serum was extracted from a previous report in the literature and fit to a kinetic dissociation/association model. The conditional stabilities (logKcond ) and percent intact over time were calculated using the model rate constants. The correlations between clinical outcomes and logKcond or other stability indices were determined.

RESULTS: The release curves for Omniscan®, gadodiamide, OptiMARK®, gadoversetamide Magnevist® and Multihance® were extracted and all fit well to the kinetic model. The logKcond s calculated from the rate constants were on the order of ~4-6, and were not significantly altered by excess ligand or phosphate. The stability constant based on the amount intact by the initial elimination half-life of GBCAs in plasma provided good correlation with outcomes observed in patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Estimation of the kinetic constants for GBCA dissociation/association revealed that their stability in physiological fluid is much lower than previous approaches would suggest, which correlates well with deposition and pharmacokinetic observations of GBCAs in human patients.