Liver imaging

Gadoxetate DCE-MRI biomarkers for liver transporter function, DDI and DILI assessment.

Gadoxetate-enhanced liver MRI
Gadoxetate-enhanced MRI supports transporter flux measurements.

Bioxydyn offers MRI measurement of liver transporter fluxes using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), plus other imaging biomarkers, including relaxation time measurements, in the investigation of liver diseases.

Bioxydyn is the lead commercial partner in the IMI TRISTAN project, which is investigating the liver and lung toxicity of many drugs in use today with the goal of validating the use of imaging biomarkers to assess and predict toxicity.

Parametric liver MRI map
Parametric liver maps derived from gadoxetate DCE-MRI (example).

We use DCE-MRI of gadoxetate to measure liver transporter function and relaxation time measurements to assess tissue status. Imaging biomarkers provide specificity where uptake and efflux kinetics cannot be unambiguously determined from blood levels.

Drug uptake and efflux involve multiple transporters. If uptake is perturbed, drug clearance may change, leading to harmful overdosing or lack of efficacy. Drug-drug interactions and inhibited efflux can lead to drug-induced liver injury. Imaging biomarkers provide a direct window into these mechanisms.

The TRISTAN consortium developed and validated gadoxetate-based DCE-MRI biomarkers for DILI and DDI. Our specification has been accepted into the FDA's biomarker qualification program, supporting use in early phase clinical drug development.

Our platform of evidence includes in vitro, rat, and human studies of assay reproducibility and response to known transporter substrates, providing confidence in quantitative liver biomarkers for safety assessment.

Liver imaging publications

Publications supporting liver transporter biomarkers, safety assessment, and gadoxetate DCE-MRI.

5 publications Refine by area, year, or keyword.
  • Use of in vivo imaging and physiologically based kinetic modelling to predict hepatic transporter mediated drug-drug interactions in rats
    2023 Research Article
    Key Publication

    Use of in vivo imaging and physiologically based kinetic modelling to predict hepatic transporter mediated drug-drug interactions in rats

    Melillo N, Scotcher D, Kenna JG, Green C, Hines CDG, Laitinen I, et al.

    Pharmaceutics 15(3)

    Why it matters: Translational framework linking gadoxetate imaging with transporter-mediated DDI risk.

  • Bias, repeatability and reproducibility of liver T1 mapping with variable flip angles
    2022 Research Article

    Bias, repeatability and reproducibility of liver T1 mapping with variable flip angles

    Tadimalla S, Wilson DJ, Shelley D, Bainbridge G, Saysell M, Mendichovszky IA, et al.

    J Magn Reson Imaging 56(4):1042-1052

  • 2021 Review

    Survey of water proton longitudinal relaxation in liver in vivo

    Waterton JC

    MAGMA 34(6):779-789

  • 2021 Research Article

    A model selection framework to quantify microvascular liver function in gadoxetate-enhanced MRI: application to healthy liver, diseased tissue, and hepatocellular carcinoma

    Berks M, Little RA, Watson Y, Cheung S, Datta A, O'Connor JPB, et al.

    Magn Reson Med 86(4):1829-1844

  • 2013 Research Article

    Assessment of gadoxetate DCE-MRI as a biomarker of hepatobiliary transporter inhibition

    Ulloa JL, Stahl S, Yates J, Woodhouse N, Kenna JG, Jones HB, et al.

    NMR Biomed 26(10):1258-1270

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