Scientists at National Cardiovascular Research Center (CNIC) have shown that 18FDG-PET, an imaging technique widely used to study other conditions, can also be used to monitor atherosclerosis by measuring cell metabolism in arterial plates. The results, published in Translational scientific medicinecould improve the clinical management of this disease and accelerate the development of new treatments.
Atherosclerosis-The underlying cause of most heart attacks and features-is a silent disease that progresses for many years without symptoms. The disease is characterized by the accumulation of fatty deposits, cells and other materials in the walls of the arteries, where they reduce blood flow and can possibly break, triggering serious cardiovascular events. Although treatments are available to slow the progression of the disease, it is always difficult to determine whether treatment works in individual patients.
18FDG-PET (Tomography by emission of fluorodeoxyglucose positrons) is a nuclear imaging technique which uses a marked radioactive glucose analog to detect tissue metabolic activity.
The new study shows that the 18The FDG-PET signal reflects the metabolic activity of atherosclerotic plates, rather than simply indicating inflammation, as had been known before.
To achieve this conclusion, the research team has developed an experimental model of advanced atherosclerosis in genetically modified animals and was able to partially reverse the progression of the disease by using a diet and an intervention based on drugs similar to the strategies used in clinical care.
As a regressed disease, the 18The FDG-PET signal has decreased in parallel with the reduced expression of genes linked to glucose metabolism in various types of plate cells, including macrophages, lymphocytes and smooth muscle cells.
«The 18The FDG-PET signal reflects the level of activity of cells within atherosclerotic lesions and can therefore serve as a sensitive tool to assess the effectiveness of treatment and the risk of progression of the disease, “explains CNIC researcher, Paula Nogales, principal author of the study with Jacob Bentzon, of Aarhus University (Denmark) and chief of experimental pathology of the group CNIC.
This discovery opens the door to the use of a hospital technique widely available to improve clinical monitoring of atherosclerosis and accelerate the development of new therapies for this silent but potentially fatal disease.
The study received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the European Union Horizon Research and Innovation Program; The Spanish Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MEIC), with the co -financing of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); The Instituto de Salud Carlos III, with a COFINANCEMENT; the Madrid regional government; and the “La Caixa” foundation (Athéroconvergence).
