Blood clearance and tissue distribution of PEGylated and non-PEGylated gold nanorods after intravenous administration in rats.

Aims: To develop and determine the safety of gold nanorods, whose aspect ratios can be tuned to obtain plasmon peaks between 650 and 850 nm, as contrast enhancing agents for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Materials & Methods: In this study we compared the blood clearance and tissue distribution of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)-capped and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated gold nanorods after intravenous injection in the tail vein of rats. The gold content in blood and various organs was measured quantitatively with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.