Autoradiography screening of potential positron emission tomography tracers for asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms

OBJECTIVE The aetiology and early pathophysiological mechanisms of aortic aneurysm formation are still unknown and challenging to study in vivo. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a potentially valuable instrument for non-invasive in vivo pathophysiological studies. No specific tracer to identify the pathophysiological process of aneurysmal dilatation is yet available, however. The aim of this study was to explore if different PET tracers could be useful to image aneurysmal disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Human aneurysmal aortic tissue, collected during elective resection of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) of asymptomatic patients, was investigated in vitro by means of autoradiography with [(68)Ga]CRP-binder targeting C-reactive protein, [(11)C]DAA1106 targeting translocator protein (18 kDa), [(11)C]D-deprenyl with unknown target receptor, [(11)C]deuterium-L-deprenyl targeting astrocytes, [(18)F]fluciclatide targeting integrin αVβ3, [(68)Ga]IMP461 and bi-specific antibody TF2 052107 targeting carcinoembryonic antigen, [(18)F]F-metomidate targeting mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 species in the adrenal cortex, and [(18)F]vorozole targeting aromatase. Of the investigated tracers, only [(18)F]fluciclatide exhibited specific binding, whereas the other PET tracers failed to show specific uptake in the investigated tissue and are probably not useful for the intended purpose. CONCLUSION It seems likely that αVβ3 integrin expression in AAA can be visualized with PET and that the αVβ3 selective tracer, [(18)F]fluciclatide, may be suitable for in vivo molecular imaging of asymptomatic AAA. Additional evaluation of [(18)F]fluciclatide and αVβ3 integrin expression in AAA will be performed in vitro as well as in vivo.