An image technique could help against atherosclerosis

He National Cardiovascular Research Center (CNIC) has shown that the image technique 18FDG-PETusually used to diagnose pathologies such as cancer, It can also serve to monitor the activity of the Atherosclerosiswhich would improve its monitoring and open new paths of treatment.

Atherosclerosis is a silent disease that progresses for years without causing symptoms and is the main responsible for infarcts and strokes. Is characterized by the accumulation of lipids, cells and other substances on the walls of the arterieswhich can obstruct blood flow or break suddenly and cause serious cardiovascular events.

In this new work, CNIC researchers have verified that the signal detected with 18FDG-PET – A positron emission tomography technique that measures the energy consumption of the cells – reflects the cellular metabolism of atherosclerotic lesions and not only inflammationas believed so far.

To get to this conclusion, The team used an experimental model Advanced atherosclerosis in transgenic animals, whose disease was partially reversed by a dietary and pharmacological intervention similar to that applied in patients. During this regression, the signal obtained with 18FDG-PET It decreased remarkably, in parallel to the reduction of genes involved in glucose metabolism in macrophages, lymphocytes and smooth muscle cells of the plaque.

“The 18FDG-PET technique reflects the level of activity of atherosclerotic lesion cells and can be a sensitive tool to evaluate the effect of treatments or the risk of disease progression,” he explained Paula NogalesCNIC researcher and main author of the work, together with Jacob Bentzongroup leader at the CNIC and the University of Aarhus (Denmark).

This finding Open the possibility of using a tool already available in many hospitals to improve clinical monitoring of atherosclerosis and accelerate the development of new treatments against this silent but potentially deadly ailment.