The Potential of Metabolic Imaging

Area of Science:

• Molecular Imaging
• Metabolic Pathways
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Metabolic imaging targets cellular metabolic changes for disease evaluation.
• Noninvasive quantification of metabolic alterations aids diagnosis and therapy monitoring.
• This review focuses on metabolic pathway-targeting techniques, excluding receptor or microenvironment methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of clinically translatable metabolic imaging modalities.
• To highlight techniques targeting metabolic pathways for disease assessment.
• To provide an overview of altered metabolic pathways and relevant probes.

Main Methods:

• Focus on Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
• Focus on Magnetic Resonance (MR) spectroscopy, including conventional (1H- and 13C-) and hyperpolarized MRI.
• Review of probes and techniques for studying metabolic alterations.

Main Results:

• Detailed description of PET and MR spectroscopy applications in metabolic imaging.
• Overview of metabolic pathways altered in various pathologies.
• Discussion of imaging applications in cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiac ischemia, and infection/inflammation.

Conclusions:

• Metabolic imaging, particularly PET and MR spectroscopy, offers powerful noninvasive tools for clinical evaluation.
• Understanding altered metabolic pathways is crucial for disease diagnosis and therapeutic response assessment.
• These techniques show significant promise for managing diverse clinical conditions.