Nucl Med Mol Imaging.
2016 Dec;50(4):284-291. 10.1007/s13139-016-0418-9.
Recent Advances in the Development of PET/SPECT Probes for Atherosclerosis Imaging
- Affiliations
-
- 1Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
- 2Central Institute of Isotope Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 15 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0815, Japan. kuge@ric.hokudai.ac.jp
- 3Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
- KMID: 2386151
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-016-0418-9
Abstract
- The rupture of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and subsequent thrombus formation are the major causes of myocardial and cerebral infarction. Accordingly, the detection of vulnerable plaques is important for risk stratification and to provide appropriate treatment. Inflammation imaging using 2-deoxy-2-[¹â¸F]fluoro-D-glucose (¹â¸F-FDG) has been most extensively studied for detecting vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. It is of great importance to develop PET/SPECT probes capable of specifically visualizing the biological molecules involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation and/or progression. In this article, we review recent advances in the development of PET/SPECT probes for visualizing atherosclerotic plaques and their application to therapy monitoring, mainly focusing on experimental studies.
