Feasibility of in vivo18F-florbetaben PET/MR imaging of human carotid amyloid-β.
OBJECTIVE
Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides are involved in the inflammatory pathology of atherosclerosis.18F-Florbetaben is a PET tracer for clinical imaging of cerebral Aβ plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We sought to determine whether specific uptake of18F-florbetaben in the carotid arteries can be identified using a fully integrated hybrid PET/MRI system and whether this uptake is associated with clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.


METHODS
Carotid18F-florbetaben uptake was quantified as the mean of the maximum target-to-background ratio (meanTBRmax) in 40 cognitively impaired subjects (age 68.2 ± 9.5 years) undergoing18F-florbetaben PET/MRI to diagnose AD. Associations between carotid18F-florbetaben uptake and several CVD risk factors were assessed by univariate analysis followed by a multivariate linear regression analysis. Furthermore, carotid18F-florbetaben uptake was compared between patients with and without a positive cerebral Aβ PET scan.


RESULTS
18F-Florbetaben uptake was clearly visualized in the carotid arteries. Values ofmeanTBRmaxcorrected for the blood pool activity of the tracer showed specific18F-florbetaben uptake in the carotid wall. Male gender was associated with carotid18F-florbetaben uptake in the univariate analysis, and was found to be an independent predictor of18F-florbetaben uptake in the multivariate regression analysis (standardized regression coefficient β = 0.407, p = 0.009). Carotid18F-florbetabenmeanTBRmaxin patients with a positive cerebral Aβ scan did not differ from that in patients without cerebral Aβ deposits.


CONCLUSIONS
Specific18F-florbetaben uptake in human carotid arteries was detected. Male gender was identified as an independent clinical risk factor. Therefore,18F-florbetaben PET/MRI might provide new insights into the pathophysiological process in atherosclerosis.
Department of Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands. jan.bucerius@mumc.nl.|Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands. jan.bucerius@mumc.nl.|Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany. jan.bucerius@mumc.nl.|Department of Nuclear Medicine/Radiology and Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), P. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX, Maastricht, The Netherlands. jan.bucerius@mumc.nl.
Jan
J
Bucerius
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Henryk
H
Barthel
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Solveig
S
Tiepolt
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Peter
P
Werner
Department of Pathology, Experimental Vascular Pathology, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Judith C
JC
Sluimer
Department of Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Joachim E
JE
Wildberger
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Marianne
M
Patt
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.|Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Swen
S
Hesse
Department of Psychiatry, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Hermann-Josef
HJ
Gertz
Department of Pathology, Experimental Vascular Pathology, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Erik A L
EAL
Biessen
Department of Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Felix M
FM
Mottaghy
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Osama
O
Sabri
D000368:Aged; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D000814:Aniline Compounds; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012307:Risk Factors; D013267:Stilbenes
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000814:Aniline Compounds; D013267:Stilbenes; C527756:4-(N-methylamino)-4'-(2-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)stilbene
Amyloid-β; Atherosclerosis; Carotid arteries; Florbetaben; PET