Current Status of Molecular Imaging in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders

Title:Current Status of Molecular Imaging in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders

Volume: 24 Issue: 7

Author(s): Alberto Signore*, Kelly Luz Anzola, Sveva Auletta, Michela Varani, Agnese Petitti, Marta Pacilio, Filippo Galli and Chiara Lauri

Affiliation:

• Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, ,Italy

Keywords: Molecular imaging, inflammation, nuclear medicine, atherosclerotic plaques, vasculitis, antibodies.

Abstract: In the field of inflammation imaging, nuclear medicine techniques can be considered as a non-invasive tool to early detect pathophysiological changes in affected tissues. These changes usually occur before clinical onset of symptoms and before the development of anatomical changes, that are commonly detected by radiological procedures. This is particularly important for prognostic purposes, therapy decision making and for therapy follow-up. Here we review the current state-of-the art of nuclear medicine for diagnostic purposes in different conditions characterized by a chronic inflammation, such as vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques, vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren syndrome, autoimmune thyroid diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, Coeliac disease, Type 1 diabetes mellitus and other immunological diseases. Overall, we describe several different approaches based on radiolabeled cells, peptides and antibodies or FDG. It emerges the role of PET and of hybrid cameras in particular (SPECT/CT and PET/CT) for diagnosis of these disorders and for therapy decision making and followup.

Cite this article as:

Signore Alberto *, Anzola Luz Kelly , Auletta Sveva , Varani Michela , Petitti Agnese , Pacilio Marta, Galli Filippo and Lauri Chiara, Current Status of Molecular Imaging in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2018; 24 (7) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612824666180130115153