Abstract
The true impact and long-term damage to organs such as the lungs following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remain to be determined. Non-invasive molecularly targeted imaging may play a critical role to aid in the visualization and understanding of the systemic damage. We have identified αvβ6 as molecular target; an epithelium-specific cell surface receptor that is low/undetectable in healthy adult epithelium but up-regulated in select injured tissues, including fibrotic lung. Herein we report the first human positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) images using the integrin αvβ6 binding peptide (18F-αvβ6-BP) in a patient 2 months after the acute phase of infection. Minimal uptake of 18F-αvβ6-BP was noted in normal lung parenchyma, with elevated uptake in the lung corresponding to areas of opacities on CT. This case suggests 18F-αvβ6-BP PET/CT is a promising non-invasive approach to identify the presence and potentially monitor the persistence/ progression of lung damage.
- Infectious Disease
- Molecular Imaging
- Peptides
- SARS-CoV-2
- fibrosis
- integrins
- peptides
- positron emission tomography
Footnotes
Immediate Open Access: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY) allows users to share and adapt with attribution, excluding materials credited to previous publications. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Details: http://jnm.snmjournals.org/site/misc/permission.xhtml.
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