Abstract
3069
Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic illness contributing to overwhelming costs to many American’s lives and the American healthcare system. Much of this cost is attributable to the downstream effects of late diagnosis and the subsequent interventions needed. Diabetes is an under-diagnosed disease thereby contributing to high morbidity and mortality. PET imaging could be a sensitive technique to visualize beta cell function in the pancreas. Methods: As a type 1 diabetic, I am fortunate to have been diagnosed in the early stages of the disease, but this is often not the case for type 2 diabetics. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is especially difficult because fasting blood sugar levels can increase periodically without any patient symptoms. This contributes to significant health issues that can manifest before a physician is seen for the first time. The primary goal is to increase the efficiency of diagnosis for patients that are dealing with pancreatic stressors on a regular basis. This could lead to an earlier diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) ligands have been utilized for cardiac, neural, oncology and infection imaging. Novel PET radiotracers may offer a diagnostic edge for metabolic disorders like diabetes. The design of new tracers can be a lengthy process and involves steps such as finding the appropriate target, deciding what ligands to use, designing labelling strategies, performing quality assurance, and transcribing drug information for potential users.1
Results: The ideal tracer would reflect beta cell stress in type 2 diabetes before health issues manifest. A number of PET tracers have been investigated and there are methods to discover new ligand-isotope combinations that satisfy ideal functional imaging characteristics. 11C-5HTP and 18F-VMAT2 have a relatively high target binding in the pancreas of T2D patients.2
Conclusions: Detailed patient health information systems and genetic testing already exist and are helping with early diagnosis. Although in its early stages, pancreatic imaging excites the search for new tracers. 18F-VMAT22 and other potential ligands could solve a costly health concern of the American public. My personal experience illustrates that paediatric type 1 diabetes is far easier to diagnose and has a better prognosis than type two. Type two diabetes is heavily reliant on early diagnosis and novel approaches such as PET imaging could play an integral role in this early diagnosis.