In:
Science Translational Medicine, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Vol. 3, No. 84 ( 2011-05-25)
Kurzfassung:
New high-resolution molecular and structural imaging strategies are needed to visualize high-risk plaques that are likely to cause acute myocardial infarction, because current diagnostic methods do not reliably identify at-risk subjects. Although molecular imaging agents are available for low-resolution detection of atherosclerosis in large arteries, a lack of imaging agents coupled to high-resolution modalities has limited molecular imaging of atherosclerosis in the smaller coronary arteries. Here, we have demonstrated that indocyanine green (ICG), a Food and Drug Administration–approved near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF)–emitting compound, targets atheromas within 20 min of injection and provides sufficient signal enhancement for in vivo detection of lipid-rich, inflamed, coronary-sized plaques in atherosclerotic rabbits. In vivo NIRF sensing was achieved with an intravascular wire in the aorta, a vessel of comparable caliber to human coronary arteries. Ex vivo fluorescence reflectance imaging showed high plaque target-to-background ratios in atheroma-bearing rabbits injected with ICG compared to atheroma-bearing rabbits injected with saline. In vitro studies using human macrophages established that ICG preferentially targets lipid-loaded macrophages. In an early clinical study of human atheroma specimens from four patients, we found that ICG colocalized with plaque macrophages and lipids. The atheroma-targeting capability of ICG has the potential to accelerate the clinical development of NIRF molecular imaging of high-risk plaques in humans.
Materialart:
Online-Ressource
ISSN:
1946-6234
,
1946-6242
DOI:
10.1126/scitranslmed.3001577
Sprache:
Englisch
Verlag:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Publikationsdatum:
2011
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