Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is mortal disease affecting the blood vessels of the
lung. Despite its morbid prognosis, PAH is often misdiagnosed or ignored, with an average
time of 44 months between onset of symptoms to diagnosis and substantial progression of
disease severity. Therefore, a pressing need exists to develop non-invasive diagnostic
imaging tools, particularly that can detect early disease stages.
Efforts have been made to develop such imaging capabilities through platform development of
echocardiography, cardiac MRI, chest computed tomography (CT), and positron emission
tomography (PET), among others. While some have demonstrated promise, few have shown a
precise ability to offer disease quantifications of the diseased lung and vasculature itself,
to detect early stages of disease, and to reflect alterations of the lung, vasculature, and
right ventricle that reflect the molecular origins of this disease.
[F-18]FGln has been previously utilized in oncology studies as a non-invasive in vivo imaging
biomarker of tumor glutamine flux and metabolism. Our preliminary in vivo pre-clinical rodent
studies demonstrated that [F-18]FGln demonstrated increased uptake in diseased pulmonary
vessels and the right ventricle in a rodent model of PAH. The proposed research study will
provide preliminary evidence of the potential to utilize [F-18]FGln as a non-invasive imaging
biomarker of glutamine flux and metabolism across a range of PAH subjects.
Phase:
Early Phase 1
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Stephen Y. Chan
Collaborators:
Bayer National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)