Imaging metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a fast growing public health burden for almost all the developed countries and many developing nations. Despite intense efforts from both biomedical and clinical scientists, many fundamental questions regarding its aetiology and development remain unclear, partly due to the lack of suitable imaging technologies to visualize lipid composition and distribution, insulin secretion, beta-cell mass and functions in vivo. Such technologies would not only impact on our understanding of the complexity of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, but also aid in their diagnosis, drug development and assessment of treatment efficacy. In this article we discuss and propose several strategies for visualization of physiological and pathological changes that affect pancreas and adipose tissue as a result of the development of metabolic diseases.
Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore.
Weiping
W
Han
Kai-Hsiang
KH
Chuang
Young-Tae
YT
Chang
Malini
M
Olivo
S Sendhil
SS
Velan
Kishore
K
Bhakoo
David
D
Townsend
George K
GK
Radda
D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*