In vivo imaging of beta cells with radiotracers: state of the art, prospects and recommendations for development and use.
Radiotracer imaging is characterised by high in vivo sensitivity, with a detection limit in the lower picomolar range. Therefore, radiotracers represent a valuable tool for imaging pancreatic beta cells. High demands are made of radiotracers for in vivo imaging of beta cells. Beta cells represent only a small fraction of the volume of the pancreas (usually 1-3%) and are scattered in the tiny islets of Langerhans throughout the organ. In order to be able to measure a beta cell-specific signal, one has to rely on highly specific tracer molecules because current in vivo imaging technologies do not allow the resolution of single islets in humans non-invasively. Currently, a considerable amount of preclinical data are available for several radiotracers and three are under clinical evaluation. We summarise the current status of the evaluation of these tracer molecules and put forward recommendations for their further evaluation.
Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medical Chemistry, Uppsala University, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 14C, 3tr, SE-751 83, Uppsala, Sweden. olof.eriksson@pet.medchem.uu.se.|Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. olof.eriksson@pet.medchem.uu.se.|Department of Biosciences, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. olof.eriksson@pet.medchem.uu.se.
Olof
O
Eriksson
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Maren
M
Laughlin
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud university medical center, PO Box 9101, 6500HB, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Maarten
M
Brom
Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Pirjo
P
Nuutila
Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Michael
M
Roden
JDRF, Discovery Research, New York, NY, USA.
Albert
A
Hwa
Division of Endocrinology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma and AOU of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Riccardo
R
Bonadonna
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud university medical center, PO Box 9101, 6500HB, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. martin.gotthardt@radboudumc.nl.
Martin
M
Gotthardt
D000818:Animals; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000473:pathology*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D011854:Radiochemistry
D011849:Radioactive Tracers
Beta cell; Beta cell imaging; Diabetes; Exendin; Islet imaging; Islets of Langerhans; PET; Review; SPECT