Osborn Eric A, Jaffer Farouc A
Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Curr Opin Cardiol. 2008 Nov;23(6):620-8. doi: 10.1097/HCO.0b013e328310fc7e.
Molecular imaging aims to illuminate vital molecular and cellular aspects of disease in vivo, and is rapidly translating into the clinical arena. Advantages of this field include enabling serial biological studies in living subjects, assessment of pharmaceutical efficacy, and in-vivo characterization of clinical diseases. Here we present recent exciting advances in molecular imaging of atherosclerotic vascular disease.
Atherosclerosis molecular imaging approaches are now available for magnetic resonance, nuclear, computed tomography, ultrasound, and near-infrared fluorescence imaging. Advances in agent synthesis and detection technology are now enabling in-vivo imaging of endothelial cell activation, macrophages, cellular metabolism, protease activity, apoptosis, and osteogenic activity. Several agents show clinical utility for the detection of high-risk plaques.
Molecular imaging is actively unraveling the biological basis of atherosclerosis in living subjects. In the near-term, molecular imaging will play an important role in assessing novel atherosclerosis pharmacotherapies in clinical trials. Longer term, molecular imaging should enable accurate identification of high-risk plaques responsible for myocardial infarction, stroke, and ischemic limbs.
分子成像旨在在体内阐明疾病重要的分子和细胞层面，并且正迅速转化应用于临床领域。该领域的优势包括能够在活体受试者中进行系列生物学研究、评估药物疗效以及对临床疾病进行体内特征描述。在此，我们介绍动脉粥样硬化性血管疾病分子成像方面近期令人振奋的进展。
目前，动脉粥样硬化分子成像方法可用于磁共振成像、核成像、计算机断层扫描、超声成像以及近红外荧光成像。造影剂合成和检测技术的进步现正使得对内皮细胞活化、巨噬细胞、细胞代谢、蛋白酶活性、细胞凋亡和成骨活性进行体内成像成为可能。几种造影剂在检测高危斑块方面显示出临床应用价值。
分子成像正在积极揭示活体受试者动脉粥样硬化的生物学基础。在短期内，分子成像将在评估临床试验中新型动脉粥样硬化药物治疗方面发挥重要作用。从长远来看，分子成像应能够准确识别导致心肌梗死、中风和肢体缺血的高危斑块。
