142
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    1
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Molecular Imaging of Inflammation in Atherosclerosis

      review-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Acute rupture of vulnerable plaques frequently leads to myocardial infarction and stroke. Within the last decades, several cellular and molecular players have been identified that promote atherosclerotic lesion formation, maturation and plaque rupture. It is now widely recognized that inflammation of the vessel wall and distinct leukocyte subsets are involved throughout all phases of atherosclerotic lesion development. The mechanisms that render a stable plaque unstable and prone to rupture, however, remain unknown and the identification of the vulnerable plaque remains a major challenge in cardiovascular medicine. Imaging technologies used in the clinic offer minimal information about the underlying biology and potential risk for rupture. New imaging technologies are therefore being developed, and in the preclinical setting have enabled new and dynamic insights into the vessel wall for a better understanding of this complex disease. Molecular imaging has the potential to track biological processes, such as the activity of cellular and molecular biomarkers in vivo and over time. Similarly, novel imaging technologies specifically detect effects of therapies that aim to stabilize vulnerable plaques and silence vascular inflammation. Here we will review the potential of established and new molecular imaging technologies in the setting of atherosclerosis, and discuss the cumbersome steps required for translating molecular imaging approaches into the clinic.

          Related collections

          Most cited references142

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part I.

          Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease results in >19 million deaths annually, and coronary heart disease accounts for the majority of this toll. Despite major advances in treatment of coronary heart disease patients, a large number of victims of the disease who are apparently healthy die suddenly without prior symptoms. Available screening and diagnostic methods are insufficient to identify the victims before the event occurs. The recognition of the role of the vulnerable plaque has opened new avenues of opportunity in the field of cardiovascular medicine. This consensus document concludes the following. (1) Rupture-prone plaques are not the only vulnerable plaques. All types of atherosclerotic plaques with high likelihood of thrombotic complications and rapid progression should be considered as vulnerable plaques. We propose a classification for clinical as well as pathological evaluation of vulnerable plaques. (2) Vulnerable plaques are not the only culprit factors for the development of acute coronary syndromes, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. Vulnerable blood (prone to thrombosis) and vulnerable myocardium (prone to fatal arrhythmia) play an important role in the outcome. Therefore, the term "vulnerable patient" may be more appropriate and is proposed now for the identification of subjects with high likelihood of developing cardiac events in the near future. (3) A quantitative method for cumulative risk assessment of vulnerable patients needs to be developed that may include variables based on plaque, blood, and myocardial vulnerability. In Part I of this consensus document, we cover the new definition of vulnerable plaque and its relationship with vulnerable patients. Part II of this consensus document focuses on vulnerable blood and vulnerable myocardium and provide an outline of overall risk assessment of vulnerable patients. Parts I and II are meant to provide a general consensus and overviews the new field of vulnerable patient. Recently developed assays (eg, C-reactive protein), imaging techniques (eg, CT and MRI), noninvasive electrophysiological tests (for vulnerable myocardium), and emerging catheters (to localize and characterize vulnerable plaque) in combination with future genomic and proteomic techniques will guide us in the search for vulnerable patients. It will also lead to the development and deployment of new therapies and ultimately to reduce the incidence of acute coronary syndromes and sudden cardiac death. We encourage healthcare policy makers to promote translational research for screening and treatment of vulnerable patients.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Looking and listening to light: the evolution of whole-body photonic imaging.

            Optical imaging of live animals has grown into an important tool in biomedical research as advances in photonic technology and reporter strategies have led to widespread exploration of biological processes in vivo. Although much attention has been paid to microscopy, macroscopic imaging has allowed small-animal imaging with larger fields of view (from several millimeters to several centimeters depending on implementation). Photographic methods have been the mainstay for fluorescence and bioluminescence macroscopy in whole animals, but emphasis is shifting to photonic methods that use tomographic principles to noninvasively image optical contrast at depths of several millimeters to centimeters with high sensitivity and sub-millimeter to millimeter resolution. Recent theoretical and instrumentation advances allow the use of large data sets and multiple projections and offer practical systems for quantitative, three-dimensional whole-body images. For photonic imaging to fully realize its potential, however, further progress will be needed in refining optical inversion methods and data acquisition techniques.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              Molecular imaging by means of multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT).

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Theranostics
                Theranostics
                thno
                Theranostics
                Ivyspring International Publisher (Sydney )
                1838-7640
                2013
                1 November 2013
                : 3
                : 11
                : 865-884
                Affiliations
                1. Department of Radiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany;
                2. Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA;
                3. Department of Vascular Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany;
                4. Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf Forschung (German Research Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany.
                Author notes
                ✉ Corresponding author: Moritz Wildgruber MD, PhD or Alma Zernecke MD. Department of Radiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Strasse 22, D-81675 München, Germany. Phone: +49-89-4140-2621 Fax: +49-89-4140-4834 email: moritz.wildgruber@ 123456tum.de or zernecke@ 123456lrz.tum.de .

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

                Article
                thnov03p0865
                10.7150/thno.5771
                3841337
                24312156
                49002801-375b-44ac-9506-cc3bd9fa6e60
                © Ivyspring International Publisher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Reproduction is permitted for personal, noncommercial use, provided that the article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited.
                History
                : 27 December 2012
                : 29 April 2013
                Categories
                Review

                atherosclerosis,molecular imaging,inflammation
                atherosclerosis, molecular imaging, inflammation

                Comments

                Comment on this article