title: Feasibility of 11C-acetate PET/CT for imaging of fatty acid synthesis in the atherosclerotic vessel wall.
abstract: Fatty acids are a common constituent of atherosclerotic plaque and may be synthesized in the plaque itself. Fatty acid synthesis requires acetyl-coenzyme-A (CoA) as a main substrate, which is produced from acetate. Currently, (11)C-acetate PET/CT is used for the evaluation of malignancies. There are no data concerning its potential for the characterization of atherosclerotic plaque. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence, distribution, and topographic relationship of arterial (11)C-acetate uptake and vascular calcification in major arteries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six patients were examined by whole-body (11)C-acetate PET/CT. Tracer uptake in various arterial segments was analyzed both qualitatively and semiquantitatively by measuring the blood-pool-corrected standardized uptake value (target-to-background ratio). CT images were used to measure calcified plaque burden.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (11)C-acetate uptake was observed at 220 sites in 32 (88.8%) of the 36 study patients, and mean target-to-background ratio was 2.5 ± 1.0. Calcified atherosclerotic lesions were observed at 483 sites in 30 (83.3%) patients. Sixty-four (29.1%) of the 220 lesions with marked (11)C-acetate uptake were colocalized with arterial calcification. However, only 13.3% of all arterial calcification sites demonstrated increased radiotracer accumulation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate the feasibility of using (11)C-acetate PET/CT for imaging of fatty acid synthesis in the atherosclerotic vessel wall. This study provides a rationale to incorporating (11)C-acetate PET into further preclinical and clinical studies to obtain new insights into fatty acid synthesis in atherosclerotic lesions and to evaluate whether it may be used to monitor pharmacologic intervention with fatty acid synthase inhibitors.
authors: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. t.derlin@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors: Thorsten
authors: T
authors: Derlin
authors: Christian R
authors: CR
authors: Habermann
authors: Zsolt
authors: Z
authors: Lengyel
authors: Jasmin D
authors: JD
authors: Busch
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Wisotzki
authors: Janos
authors: J
authors: Mester
authors: László
authors: L
authors: Pávics
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries / Q000378:metabolism*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005227:Fatty Acids