title: Metabolic imaging using SPECT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In normal condition, the heart obtains more than two-thirds of its energy from the oxidative metabolism of long chain fatty acids, although a wide variety of substrates such as glucose, lactate, ketone bodies and amino acids are also utilised. In ischaemic myocardium, on the other hand, oxidative metabolism of free fatty acid is suppressed and anaerobic glucose metabolism plays a major role in residual oxidative metabolism. Therefore, metabolic imaging can be an important technique for the assessment of various cardiac diseases and conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  In SPECT, several iodinated fatty acid traces have been introduced and studied. Of these, (123)I-labelled 15-(p-iodophenyl)3-R, S-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) has been the most commonly used tracer in clinical studies, especially in some of the European countries and Japan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this review article, several fatty acid tracers for SPECT are characterised, and the mechanism of uptake and clinical utility of BMIPP are discussed in detail.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotracer Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan. taki@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsunari
mesh_terms: D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007462:Iodobenzenes; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D007462:Iodobenzenes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C049338:iodofiltic acid