TY - JOUR T1 - Translational <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT Imaging to Monitor Lesion Activity in Intestinal Inflammation JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 748 LP - 755 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.112.112623 VL - 54 IS - 5 AU - Dominik Bettenworth AU - Stefan Reuter AU - Sven Hermann AU - Matthias Weckesser AU - Linda Kerstiens AU - Athanasios Stratis AU - Tobias Max Nowacki AU - Matthias Ross AU - Frank Lenze AU - Bayram Edemir AU - Christian Maaser AU - Thomas Pap AU - Steffen Koschmieder AU - Jan Heidemann AU - Michael Schäfers AU - Andreas Lügering Y1 - 2013/05/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/5/748.abstract N2 - 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. ER -