(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for the detection of inflammatory lesions of the arterial vessel walls in Wistar rats

The present study aimed to evaluate the use of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) for detection of high-fat and high-salt diet-induced inflammatory lesions of the arterial vessel walls in Wistar rats. A total of 20 healthy, 8-week-old, male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to the high-fat diet group and the normal diet group. After 16 and 24 weeks of feeding, Wistar rats in the normal diet group and the high-fat diet group (five rats in each group) were injected with (18)F-FDG through the tail vein at a dose of 1 mCi/kg after fasting for 12 h. After 1 h, the rats were anesthetized with 2% isoflurane, followed by micro-PET imaging with a 10-min image capture duration and immunohistochemical staining. The standardized uptake values (SUVs) of (18)F-FDG were significantly higher in the iliac artery in the high-fat diet group compared with those in the normal diet group at 16 weeks (1.53±0.08 vs. 1.04±0.03; P<0.05) and at 24 weeks (1.96±0.17 vs. 1.12±0.07; P<0.05). The SUVs of (18)F-FDG were also significantly greater in the abdominal aorta in the high-fat diet group compared with those in the normal diet group at 16 weeks (1.35±0.08 vs. 1.02±0.02; P<0.05) and at 24 weeks (1.54±0.09 vs. 1.04±0.02; P<0.05). In addition, the SUVs of (18)F-FDG in the iliac artery and abdominal aorta were significantly higher at 24 weeks compared with those at 16 weeks in the high-fat diet group (P<0.05). As determined by immunohistochemistry, the percentage of CD68-positive cells in the total number of cells per unit area in each group was 3.20±1.80% in the 24-week normal diet group, 4.70±2.02% in the 16-week high-fat diet group and 6.94±2.02% in the 24-week high-fat diet group; the percentage of CD68-positive cells in the high-fat diet group at 24 weeks was significantly higher than that in the high-fat diet group at 16 weeks and in the normal diet group at 24 weeks (P<0.05). In conclusion, (18)F-FDG PET is a noninvasive imaging tool that can continuously monitor inflammatory lesions of the arterial vessel walls in Wistar rats. Further improvement of the Wistar rat atherosclerosis model may provide data to support the early assessment of and intervention in atherosclerosis.