PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Hag, Anne Mette AU - Binderup, Tina AU - Myschetzky, Rebecca AU - Kjaer, Andreas TI - Comparison of the uptake of <sup>18</sup>F-NaF and <sup>18</sup>F-FDG in apoE knock-out mice DP - 2013 May 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine PG - 1653--1653 VI - 54 IP - supplement 2 4099 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/supplement_2/1653.short 4100 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/supplement_2/1653.full SO - J Nucl Med2013 May 01; 54 AB - 1653 Objectives To examine the uptake of the tracers 18F-NaF and 18F-FDG in a mouse model of atherosclerosis in order to determine if the uptake of tracers reflects the same elements of atherogenesis. Methods Fourteen apolipoprotein E knock-out (apoE-/-) mice were divided into two groups. One group received normal chow (N=8) for 31-32 weeks; the other group received a high-fat diet (N=6) for 31-32 weeks. Within the same week, the mice were scanned with 18F-NaF and 18F-FDG using a dedicated animal PET scanner. Furthermore, the animals were CT scanned (contrast enhanced). The tracer uptake in the aorta was measured and reported as SUV-values. Unpaired t-test and correlation analysis were used to evaluate the results. Results The uptake of both 18F-NaF and 18F-FDG was increased in the aortas of apoE-/- mice on high-fat diet compared to mice on normal chow (18F-NaF, 94% increase, p&lt;0.001; 18F-FDG, 85% increase, p&lt;0.01). However, only a weak correlation was found between the uptake of the two PET tracers (R2= 0.32; P=0.04). Conclusions The results indicate that although the uptake of both 18F-NaF and 18F-FDG was upregulated with increased atherosclerosis, the two tracers seem to reflect different elements of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Further studies involving immunohistochemistry and autoradiography are needed to substantiate these results.