1. Obstacles on the way to the clinical visualisation of beta cells: looking for the Aeneas of molecular imaging to navigate between Scylla and Charybdis
- Author
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K Andralojc, Mangala Srinivas, Otto C. Boerman, Maarten Brom, I.J.M. de Vries, Martin Gotthardt, Lieke Joosten, Paolo Meda, and Decio L. Eizirik
- Subjects
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon -- methods ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Islets of Langerhans Transplantation ,Review ,Imaging modalities ,Mice ,Insulin-Secreting Cells -- radionuclide imaging -- transplantation ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune Regulation [NCMLS 2] ,Insulin-Secreting Cells ,Insulin ,Medicine ,0303 health sciences ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Translational research Immune Regulation [ONCOL 3] ,Radiochemicals ,Functional imaging [IGMD 1] ,Sciences bio-médicales et agricoles ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Molecular Imaging ,Positron emission tomography ,SPECT ,Clinical evaluation ,MRI ,Molecular Imaging -- methods ,Positron-Emission Tomography -- methods ,030209 endocrinology & metabolism ,Islets of Langerhans ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging -- methods ,03 medical and health sciences ,Pancreatic beta Cells ,Internal Medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Beta cell mass ,Pancreas ,030304 developmental biology ,Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ,business.industry ,Human physiology ,Rats ,Visualization ,Islets of Langerhans Transplantation -- radionuclide imaging ,PET ,Positron-Emission Tomography ,Molecular imaging ,business ,Nuclear medicine ,Neuroscience ,Insulitis - Abstract
For more than a decade, researchers have been trying to develop non-invasive imaging techniques for the in vivo measurement of viable pancreatic beta cells. However, in spite of intense research efforts, only one tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is currently under clinical evaluation. To many diabetologists it may remain unclear why the imaging world struggles to develop an effective method for non-invasive beta cell imaging (BCI), which could be useful for both research and clinical purposes. Here, we provide a concise overview of the obstacles and challenges encountered on the way to such BCI, in both native and transplanted islets. We discuss the major difficulties posed by the anatomical and cell biological features of pancreatic islets, as well as the chemical and physical limits of the main imaging modalities, with special focus on PET, SPECT and MRI. We conclude by indicating new avenues for future research in the field, based on several remarkable recent results., Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review, SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published
- Published
- 2012