Positron Emission Tomography to Assess the Outcome of Intraportal Islet Transplantation.

ABSTRACT: No imaging methodology currently exists to monitor viable islet mass after clinical intraportal islet transplantation. We investigated the potential of the endocrine positron emission tomography (PET) marker [(11)C]5-hydroxytryptophan ([(11)C]5-HTP) for this purpose. In a preclinical proof-of-concept study, the ex vivo and in vivo [(11)C]5-HTP signal was compared with the number of islets transplanted in rats. In a clinical study, human subjects with an intraportal islet graft (n = 8) underwent two [(11)C]5-HTP PET and MRI examinations 8 months apart. The tracer concentration in the liver as a whole, or in defined hotspots, was correlated to measurements of islet graft function. In rat, hepatic uptake of [(11)C]5-HTP correlated with the number of transplanted islets. In human subjects, upt

SUBMITTER: Eriksson O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5001185 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature