Nuclear imaging in cardiac cell therapy

Radionuclide Imaging Applications in Cardiomyopathies and Heart Failure

Multiple epidemiological factors including population aging and improved survival after acute coronary syndromes have contributed to a heart failure (HF) prevalence in the USA in epidemic proportions. In the absence of transplantation, HF remains a progressive disease with poor prognosis. The structural and functional abnormalities of the myocardium in HF can be assessed by various radionuclide imaging techniques. Radionuclide imaging may be uniquely suited to address several important clinical questions in HF such as identifying etiology and guiding the selection of patients for coronary revascularization. Newer approaches such as autonomic innervation imaging, phase analysis for synchrony assessment, and other molecular imaging techniques continue to expand the applications of radionuclide imaging in HF. In this manuscript, we review established and evolving applications of radionuclide imaging for the diagnosis, risk stratification, and management of HF.

Tracking the migration of cardially delivered therapeutic stem cells in vivo: state of the art

Cell-based therapy is a promising, novel therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular disease. The rapid transition of this approach from the benchside to clinical trials has left a gap in the understanding of the mechanisms of cell therapy. Monitoring of cell homing and the fate of cardially delivered stem cells is fundamental for clarification of the myocardial regenerative process. Noninvasive imaging techniques allow an in vivo evaluation of the survival, migration and differentiation of implanted stem cells over time, and by this means, can help to answer unresolved questions. The most promising in vivo tracking methods involve the direct, nonspecific labeling of cells including MRI, radionuclide imaging and the use of reporter-gene imaging. This review summarizes the most important results of animal and human studies in which the fate and biodistribution of cardially delivered stem cells are assessed through different in vivo tracking methods.

In vivo SPECT quantification of transplanted cell survival after engraftment using (111)In-tropolone in infarcted canine myocardium

Current investigations of cell transplant therapies in damaged myocardium are limited by the inability to quantify cell transplant survival in vivo. We describe how the labeling of cells with (111)In can be used to monitor transplanted cell viability in a canine infarction model.

METHODS

We experimentally determined the contribution of the (111)In signal associated with transplanted cell (TC) death and radiolabel leakage to the measured SPECT signal when (111)In-labeled cells were transplanted into the myocardium. Three groups of experiments were performed in dogs. Radiolabel leakage was derived by labeling canine myocardium in situ with free (111)In-tropolone (n = 4). To understand the contribution of extracellular (111)In (e.g., after cell death), we developed a debris impulse response function (DIRF) by injecting lysed (111)In-labeled cells within reperfused (n = 3) and nonreperfused (n = 5) myocardial infarcts and within normal (n = 3) canine myocardium. To assess the application of the modeling derived from these experiments, (111)In-labeled cells were transplanted into infarcted myocardium (n = 4; 3.1 x 10(7) +/- 5.4 x 10(6) cells). Serial SPECT images were acquired after direct epicardial injection to determine the time-dependent radiolabel clearance. Clearance kinetics were used to correct for (111)In associated with viable TCs.

RESULTS

(111)In clearance followed a biphasic response and was modeled as a biexponential with a short (T(1/2)(s)) and long (T(1/2)(l)) biologic half-life. The T(1/2)(s) was not significantly different between experimental groups, suggesting that initial losses were due to transplantation methodology, whereas the T(1/2)(l) reflected the clearance of retained (111)In. DIRF had an average T(1/2)(l) of 19.4 +/- 4.1 h, and the T(1/2)(l) calculated from free (111)In-tropolone injected in situ was 882.7 +/- 242.8 h. The measured T(1/2)(l) for TCs was 74.3 h and was 71.2 h when corrections were applied.

CONCLUSION

A new quantitative method to assess TC survival in myocardium using SPECT and (111)In has been introduced. At the limits, method accuracy is improved if appropriate corrections are applied. In vivo (111)In imaging most accurately describes cell viability half-life if T(1/2)(l) is between 20 h and 37 d.

Imaging in cardiac cell-based therapy: in vivo tracking of the biological fate of therapeutic cells

Clinical trials in cardiac cell-based therapy (CBT) have demonstrated the immense potential of stem progenitor cells (SPCs) to repair the injured myocardium. The bulk of evidence so far has shown that CBT can lead to structural and functional improvements. Unresolved issues remain, however, including gaps in the understanding of mechanisms and mixed results from CBT trials. To try to provide answers for these issues, assessment of the biological fate of SPCs once delivered to the injured heart has been called for. Advances in contrast agents and imaging modalities have made feasible the objective assessment of the in vivo molecular and cellular evolution of transplanted SPCs. In vivo imaging can target fundamental processes related to SPCs to gain information on their biological activities and outcomes within specific authentic microenvironments. Advantages and inherent drawbacks of imaging techniques, such as reporter-gene systems, optical imaging, radionuclide imaging, and MRI, are discussed in this Review. More than ever, it has become clear to scientists and clinicians that parallel developments in cell-based therapies and in vivo imaging modalities will strengthen this blossoming field.