@article {Bettenworth748, author = {Dominik Bettenworth and Stefan Reuter and Sven Hermann and Matthias Weckesser and Linda Kerstiens and Athanasios Stratis and Tobias Max Nowacki and Matthias Ross and Frank Lenze and Bayram Edemir and Christian Maaser and Thomas Pap and Steffen Koschmieder and Jan Heidemann and Michael Sch{\"a}fers and Andreas L{\"u}gering}, title = {Translational 18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging to Monitor Lesion Activity in Intestinal Inflammation}, volume = {54}, number = {5}, pages = {748--755}, year = {2013}, doi = {10.2967/jnumed.112.112623}, publisher = {Society of Nuclear Medicine}, abstract = {In patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in murine IBD models, mucosal disease activity is routinely assessed by endoscopy and histologic evaluation. This information is valuable for monitoring treatment response, with mucosal healing being a major treatment goal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the translational potential of noninvasive 18F-FDG PET/CT for the assessment of mucosal damage in murine dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) colitis and human IBD. Methods: After induction of DSS colitis, 18F-FDG uptake was serially assessed from colonic volumes of interest defined on PET/CT scans and intraindividually correlated to histologic findings and to infiltrating cell types. In addition, 18F-FDG PET/CT scans of 25 Crohn disease patients were analyzed, and colonic 18F-FDG uptake was correlated to endoscopically assessed damage. Results: At days 4 and 7 after DSS induction, colonic 18F-FDG uptake was significantly increased, with a distinct peak in the medial colon. 18F-FDG uptake strongly correlated with histologic epithelial damage. Additionally, 18F-FDG uptake increased in the bone marrow in the course of the disease, correlating with an increase in intestinal 18F-FDG uptake. Histology and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of the bone marrow of DSS mice revealed an increased number of immature neutrophils, whereas mucosal polymerase chain reaction suggested a correlation of 18F-FDG uptake to T cell infiltration. In accordance with the results of 18F-FDG PET/CT in DSS colitis, an increased 18F-FDG uptake was found in 87\% of deep mucosal ulcerations in IBD patients, whereas mild endoscopic lesions were detected only by 18F-FDG PET/CT in about 50\% of patients assessed. Conclusion: 18F-FDG PET/CT is a noninvasive method for evaluation of both experimental colitis and Crohn disease patients and thereby offers promising translational potential.}, issn = {0161-5505}, URL = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/5/748}, eprint = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/5/748.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Nuclear Medicine} }