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Identifying active vascular microcalcification by 18F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography
Irkle, A. Vesey, A.T. Lewis, D.Y. Skepper, J.N. Bird, Joseph Dweck, M.R. Joshi, F.R. Gallagher, F.A. Warburton, E.A. Bennett, M.R.
Irkle, A.
Vesey, A.T.
Lewis, D.Y.
Skepper, J.N.
Bird, Joseph
Dweck, M.R.
Joshi, F.R.
Gallagher, F.A.
Warburton, E.A.
Bennett, M.R.
Publication Date
2015
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© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The images or other third party material
in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise
in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will
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openAccess
Accepted for publication
14/05/2015
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Abstract
Vascular calcification is a complex biological process that is a hallmark of atherosclerosis.
While macrocalcification confers plaque stability, microcalcification is a key feature of highrisk
atheroma and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Positron emission
tomography and X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging of atherosclerosis using
18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) has the potential to identify pathologically high-risk nascent
microcalcification. However, the precise molecular mechanism of 18F-NaF vascular uptake is
still unknown. Here we use electron microscopy, autoradiography, histology and preclinical
and clinical PET/CT to analyse 18F-NaF binding. We show that 18F-NaF adsorbs to calcified
deposits within plaque with high affinity and is selective and specific. 18F-NaF PET/CT
imaging can distinguish between areas of macro- and microcalcification. This is the only
currently available clinical imaging platform that can non-invasively detect microcalcification
in active unstable atherosclerosis. The use of 18F-NaF may foster new approaches to
developing treatments for vascular calcification.
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Published version
Citation
Irkle A, Vesey AT, Lewis DY et al (2015) Identifying active vascular microcalcification by
18F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography. Nature Communications. 6. Article 7495.
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Article