Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Gd-EOB-DTPA for the Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride in Rats

Purpose: To investigate the utility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) with Gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) for detecting liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats. Methods: This study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Liver fibrosis in rats was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 1 mL/kg 50% CCl4 twice a week for 4-13 weeks. Control rats were injected with saline. Liver fibrosis was graded using the Metaviar score: no fibrosis (F0), mild fibrosis (F1-F2) and advanced fibrosis (F3-F4). DCE-MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA was performed for all rats. Ktrans, Kep, Ve and iAUC of the liver parenchyma were measured. Relative enhancement (RE) value of the liver was calculated on T1-weighted images at 15, 20 and 25 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. Results: Thirty-five rats were included: no fibrosis (n=13), mild fibrosis (n=11) and advanced fibrosis (n=11). Ktrans and iAUC values were highest in advanced fibrosis group and lowest in no fibrosis group (P＜0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for fibrosis (stages F1 and greater) were 0.773 and 0.882 for Ktrans and iAUC, respectively. AUROC for advanced fibrosis were 0.835 and 0.867 for Ktrans and iAUC, respectively. Kep and RE values were not able to differentiate fibrosis stages (all P＞0.05). Conclusion: Ktrans and iAUC obtained from DCE-MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA are useful for the detection and staging of rat liver fibrosis induced by CCl4.