[18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for lung antiinflammatory response evaluation

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary medicine
• Nuclear medicine
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Noninvasive biomarkers for pulmonary inflammation are limited, hindering assessment of anti-inflammatory treatments.
• [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) shows promise for quantifying lung neutrophilic inflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess FDG-PET's capability in measuring anti-inflammatory effects of statins and recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC).
• To evaluate these agents in a human model of experimentally induced lung inflammation.

Main Methods:

• Eighteen healthy volunteers received placebo, lovastatin, or rhAPC prior to endotoxin challenge.
• FDG-PET imaging quantified [(18)F]FDG uptake (influx constant K(i)) before and after challenge.
• Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) analyzed leukocyte counts to correlate with PET findings.

Main Results:

• Lovastatin treatment significantly decreased K(i), indicating reduced inflammation, despite non-significant changes in BAL leukocytes.
• Recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC) did not significantly alter K(i) or BAL parameters, showing no anti-inflammatory effect.

Conclusions:

• FDG-PET is a sensitive tool for measuring lung-specific responses to anti-inflammatory therapies.
• FDG-PET can be valuable for early-phase drug development of novel anti-inflammatory treatments.