Macrophage-Specific Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Improve Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Detection and Characterization of Human Atherosclerosis

ObjectivesWe sought to determine whether gadolinium (Gd)-containing lipid-based nanoparticles (NPs) targeting the macrophage scavenger receptor-B (CD36) improve cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) detection and characterization of human atherosclerosis.BackgroundGd-containing lipid-based NPs targeting macrophages have improved MR detection of murine atherosclerosis.MethodsGadolinium-containing untargeted NPs, anti-CD36 NPs, and nonspecific Fc-NPs were created. Macrophages were incubated with fluorescent targeted and nontargeted NPs to determine uptake via confocal microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) quantified Gd uptake. Human aortic specimens were harvested at…