PET imaging of GABA receptors in pancreatic islets by [C]flumazenil.

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by a progressive β-cell destruction. There are no clinically established methods for quantifying endocrine cells of the pancreas and current knowledge is almost exclusively based on autopsy material and functional measurements. Based on the expression of the γ-aminobutyric acid A receptors (GABARs) in pancreatic islets and the fact that GABAR agonists are being explored as treatment for T1D, we hypothesized that the positron emission tomography (PET) tracer [C]flumazenil ([C]FMZ) could serve as a marker of the endocrine mass of the pancreas.

Dental pulp mesenchymal stem cell (DPSCs)-derived soluble factors, produced under hypoxic conditions, support angiogenesis via endothelial cell activation and generation of M2-like macrophages.

Background: Cell therapy has emerged as a revolutionary tool to repair damaged tissues by restoration of an adequate vasculature. Dental Pulp stem cells (DPSC), due to their easy biological access, ex vivo properties, and ability to support angiogenesis have been largely explored in regenerative medicine.

Methods: Here, we tested the capability of Dental Pulp Stem Cell-Conditioned medium (DPSC-CM), produced in normoxic (DPSC-CM Normox) or hypoxic (DPSC-CM Hypox) conditions, to support angiogenesis via their soluble factors.

Regional distribution of mechanical strain and macrophage-associated lung inflammation after ventilator-induced lung injury: an experimental study.

Background: Alveolar macrophages activation to the pro-inflammatory phenotype M1 is pivotal in the pathophysiology of Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury (VILI). Increased lung strain is a known determinant of VILI, but a direct correspondence between regional lung strain and macrophagic activation remains unestablished. [Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE is a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radiopharmaceutical with a high affinity for somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2), which is overexpressed by pro-inflammatory-activated macrophages.

Evaluation of [C]UCB-A positron emission tomography in human brains.

Background: In preclinical studies, the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [C]UCB-A provided promising results for imaging synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) as a proxy for synaptic density. This paper reports the first-in-human [C]UCB-A PET study to characterise its kinetics in healthy subjects and further evaluate SV2A-specific binding.

Results: Twelve healthy subjects underwent 90-min baseline [C]UCB-A scans with PET/MRI, with two subjects participating in an additional blocking scan with the same scanning procedure after a single dose of levetiracetam (1500 mg).

Radiation dosimetry of para-chloro-2-[F]fluoroethyl-etomidate: a PET tracer for adrenocortical imaging.

Background: [C]metomidate, a methyl ester analogue of etomidate, is used for positron emission tomography of adrenocortical cancer, and has been tested in recent clinical trials for lateralization in primary aldosteronism (PA). However, in PA, visualization as well as uptake quantification are hampered by the tracer's rather high non-specific liver uptake, and its overall clinical usefulness is also limited by the short 20-minute half-life of carbon-11. Therefore, we evaluated para-chloro-2-[F]fluoroethyl-etomidate, [F]CETO, a fluorine-18 (T=109.