Gadobenic Acid 0.5 mmol/ml Suppliers & Bulk Manufacturers

Available Forms: Injection

Available Strengths: 0.5 mmol/ml

Reference Brands: MultiHance (US/EU)

Category: Contrast Agent

Gadobenic acid is a gadolinium compound used as a contrast agent in MRIs. Gadobenic acid (in the form of gadobenate dimeglumine) is an MRI contrast agent used primarily for MR imaging of the liver. It can also be used for visualizing the CNS and heart.

Product Description:

Gadobenate dimeglumine is a gadolinium-based MRI contrast agent. Gadolinium is strongly paramagnetic and shortens the relaxation times of nearby water protons, brightening tissue on T1-weighted images. Free gadolinium is toxic, so it is held inside a chelate. This particular agent has a distinguishing property: a small fraction is taken up by functioning liver cells and excreted in bile, which produces a delayed hepatobiliary phase an hour or two after injection.

That property makes it useful for characterising focal liver lesions, since a lesion containing working hepatocytes takes up the agent and one that does not stays dark. It is also used for central nervous system imaging, where its higher relaxivity allows good enhancement at lower doses, and for vascular and cardiac studies. Gadolinium agents carry a risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in severe renal impairment, so renal function is checked first, and gadolinium retention in brain and bone is a recognised and debated finding.

Sourcing notes. A hospital radiology product bought against scanner throughput, so demand is predictable and tender-driven. Linear and macrocyclic chelates differ in stability and in regulatory standing — several linear agents have been restricted in Europe — so confirm the destination's current position. Supplied in several vial sizes; store below 30 degrees, protect from light.