Quantification of Myocardial Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Using PET.

Purpose of Review: To present a method enabling in vivo quantification of tissue membrane potential (ΔΨ _T ), a proxy of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ _m ), to review the origin and role of ΔΨ _m , and to highlight potential applications of myocardial ΔΨ _T imaging.
Recent Findings: Radiolabelled lipophilic cations have been used for decades to measure ΔΨ _m in vitro. Using similar compounds labeled with positron emitters and appropriate compartment modeling, this technique now allows in vivo quantification of ΔΨ _T with positron emission tomography. Studies have confirmed the feasibility of measuring myocardial ΔΨ _T in both animals and humans. In addition, ΔΨ _T showed very low variability among healthy subjects, suggesting that this method could allow detection of relatively small pathological changes. In vivo assessment of myocardial ΔΨ _T provides a new tool to study the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases and has the potential to serve as a new biomarker to assess disease stage, prognosis, and response to therapy.