COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF IOVERSOL AND OTHER CONTRAST-MEDIA ON THEBLOOD-BRAIN-BARRIER

Little information is available concerning the neurotoxicity of iovers ol injected in animals. The effects of ioversol and other contrast med ia as well as vehicle control on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) were ex amined by injection into the left carotid artery of Mongolian gerbils 1 min prior to the i.v. injection of [8-C-14]dopamine. The animals wer e sacrificed 1 min after the i.v. injection to prepare the frontal bra in sections following the stereotaxic atlas. No uptake of the labeled substance was observed when the vehicle control and ioversol! were use d, suggesting that exposure to ioversol does not damage the BBB. Both meglumine sodium amidotrizoate and iohexol caused damage to the BBB, a s shown in the cerebral cortex, brain stem, and hippocampus sections i n the left semisphere. Iopaidol induced a much less but significant ef fect. Our results suggest that ioversol is an useful contrast medium.