Multimodal Theranostic Nanoformulations Permit Magnetic Resonance Bioimaging of Antiretroviral Drug Particle Tissue-Cell Biodistribution.

Long-acting slow effective release antiretroviral therapy (LASER ART) was developed to improve patient regimen adherence, prevent new infections, and facilitate drug delivery to human immunodeficiency virus cell and tissue reservoirs. In an effort to facilitate LASER ART development, "multimodal imaging theranostic nanoprobes" were created. These allow combined bioimaging, drug pharmacokinetics and tissue biodistribution tests in animal models. Europium (Eu Folic acid (FA) decoration of EuCF-DTG (FA-EuCF-DTG) nanoparticles facilitated macrophage targeting and sped drug entry across cell barriers. Macrophage uptake was higher for FA-EuCF-DTG than EuCF-DTG nanoparticles with relaxivities of r We posit that these theranostic nanoprobes can assess LASER ART drug delivery and be used as part of a precision nanomedicine therapeutic strategy.