Russian Scientists Patent Nanocrystal Tungsten Trioxide for New X-Ray Agent

Russian scientists have found that nanocrystal tungsten trioxide can replace barium for X-ray examination and also in cancer treatment. The results of the study are published in the Journal of Nanomaterials.

Because of the physicochemical properties of tungsten, especially the effective absorption of X-rays, its compounds are considered to be the possible basis for the production of new contrast agents. This method can be applied to compute tomography. Computer tomography (CT) is a method of visualizing internal organs. The method is based on one-dimensional or two-dimensional projections obtained by X-ray passing through tissues when the X-ray source and its relative detector rotate around the object at the same time.

In order to obtain high quality images, it is necessary to have significant visual differences in X-ray attenuation between organs. In order to better distinguish organs, normal and pathological structures, various contrast enhancement techniques are used. Usually this is done with the use of radiopaque agents that are injected in the form of solution. The maximum effect of radiation attenuation is achieved by using chemical elements with large mass atoms. When choosing these agents, it is necessary to consider five criteria for their clinical application in CT: effective radiation impermeability, selective distribution, lack of pharmacological and/or toxicological effects, stability in vitro and in vivo, cost and availability.

Today, only iodine and barium are used in radiography. However, in order to obtain comparative X-ray images of organs, a relatively large amount of pharmaceutical solution is required, which can cause discomfort and side effects.

Scientists from Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry and the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics RAS have found that tungsten can replace iodine and barium. They demonstrated the bio-safety of tungsten nanoparticles in human cells even at high concentrations, and developed a scheme for synthesizing highly crystalline tungsten trioxide nanoparticles, which could form the basis for new transmittance agents.

“Previously, we synthesized and investigated photochromic tungsten oxide nanoparticles, which have pronounced bactericidal activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as selective photocatalytic activity against cancer cells, which can be used in perspective for photodynamic therapy of cancer. Our team works in two directions: development of a radiopaque agent and creation of a new class of photosensitizers for photodynamic cancer therapy.” - Anton Popov, one of the authors of the study, commented.

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