Quantification of Myocardial Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Using PET

To present a method enabling in vivo quantification of tissue membrane potential (ΔΨ_T), a proxy of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ_m), to review the origin and role of ΔΨ_m, and to highlight potential applications of myocardial ΔΨ_T imaging.

Radiolabelled lipophilic cations have been used for decades to measure ΔΨ_m in vitro. Using similar compounds labeled with positron emitters and appropriate compartment modeling, this technique now allows in vivo quantification of ΔΨ_T with positron emission tomography. Studies have confirmed the feasibility of measuring myocardial ΔΨ_T in both animals and humans. In addition, ΔΨ_T showed very low variability among healthy subjects, suggesting that this method could allow detection of relatively small pathological changes. In vivo assessment of myocardial ΔΨ_T provides a new tool to study the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases and has the potential to serve as a new biomarker to assess disease stage, prognosis, and response to therapy.