With the growing interest in developing silver-based antimicrobials, there is a need to better understand the behavior of silver within biological systems. To address this, we showed that single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a suitable method to noninvasively image 111Ag-labeled compounds in mice. Formed by neutron irradiation of palladium foil, 111Ag can be rapidly isolated with a high degree of purity and stably incorporated into antimicrobial silver nanoparticles. The imaging showed that nanoparticles are retained in the lungs for up to 48 h following intratracheal instillation, with limited uptake into the systemic circulation or organs of the reticuloendothelial system. Furthermore, in a mouse model of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, the nanoparticles reduced the bacterial burden by 11.6-fold without inducing the production of pro-inflammatory mediators. Overall, SPECT imaging with 111Ag is a useful tool for noninvasively visualizing the biodistribution of silver-containing compounds in rodents. This knowledge of how silver nanoparticles distribute in vivo can be used to predict their therapeutic efficacy.
Keywords: SPECT/CT; antimicrobial; imaging; nanoparticles; silver; silver-111.