Collagen-binding probe PET/MR for distinguishing fibrotic from inflammatory strictures in Crohn's disease
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 18, 2026
A Method to Study the Correlation Between Local Collagen Structure and Mechanical Properties of Atherosclerotic Plaque Fibrous Tissue
Published on: November 11, 2022
Antonino Andrea Blandino1,2, Peter Caravan1,3, Rocco Ricciardi4
1Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Purpose:
To evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic performance of 68Ga-CBP8 PET/MR enterography for noninvasive detection of bowel collagen deposition and differentiation of inflammatory from fibrotic or mixed strictures in Crohn's disease.
Materials And Methods:
Patients with stricturing Crohn's disease scheduled for bowel resection or endoscopic biopsy were prospectively enrolled. PET/MR enterography was performed after intravenous administration of 68Ga-collagen binding probe 8 (68Ga-CBP8). Focal radiotracer uptake was defined as activity exceeding local background and anatomically corresponding to an MR-identified bowel stricture. Surgical and biopsy specimens underwent blinded pathologic evaluation for fibrosis. Descriptive statistics, sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess diagnostic performance. Differences in SUVmax and SUVmax stricture-to-uninvolved bowel ratio between fibrotic and non-fibrotic segments were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results:
Five patients (4 M, 1 F; median age: 50; IQR: 11) with seven strictured bowel segments (median length: 24 mm; IQR: 14) were included. Five segments (71.4%) demonstrated focal 68Ga-CBP8 uptake and were pathologically confirmed as mixed inflammatory-fibrotic strictures. Two segments (28.6%) showed no significant uptake and were confirmed as strictures devoid of fibrosis. 68Ga-CBP8 PET/MR enterography achieved 100% sensitivity for mixed inflammatory-fibrotic strictures and 100% specificity for non-fibrotic strictures. SUVmax and SUVmax stricture-to-uninvolved bowel ratio were higher in fibrotic than non-fibrotic segments (median SUVmax: 2.29 vs. 1.01; median ratio: 2.36 vs. 0.88), although without statistically significant differences (both p = 0.095).
Conclusion:
68Ga-CBP8 PET/MR enterography is a feasible noninvasive technique to assess bowel strictures in Crohn's disease and may enable differentiation of inflammatory and fibrotic components.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06252493. Date of first enrollment: 19 December 2023. Registered: 2 February 2024 (retrospectively registered).
More Related Videos
07:05Fluorescence-mediated Tomography for the Detection and Quantification of Macrophage-related Murine Intestinal Inflammation
Published on: December 15, 2017
10:21Mechanistic Insight into the Development of TNBS-Mediated Intestinal Fibrosis and Evaluating the Inhibitory Effects of Rapamycin
Published on: September 12, 2019
Related Concept Videos
01:25Ultrasound II: Endoscopic Ultrasound and FibroScan
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS):
01:30Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Diagnostic Studies and Management I-Nutritional Therapy
Diagnostic studies
A colonoscopy is the definitive screening test, distinguishing ulcerative colitis from other colon diseases with similar symptoms. During a colonoscopy test, inflamed mucosa with exudate ulcerations can be observed, and biopsies are taken to determine the histologic characteristics of the...