Visualization of macrophage inflammatory activity on visceral obesity in high-fat diet-induced obese mice by 18F-FDG PET/CT

Abstract Background Obesity induced inflamed visceral adipose tissue (VAT) secretes pro-inflammatory cytokines thereby promoting systemic inflammation and insulin resistance which further exacerbate obesity-related cardiovascular disease (CVD). Macrophages are the key players in development of obesity-associated VAT inflammation. Extensive clinical studies have reported that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) can be used to evaluate macrophage inflammatory activity on human beings. However, due difficulty biopsy, pathologic correlations were lacking there was a few study preclinical animal models. Purpose Here, we investigated whether 18F-FDG PET/CT could reflect high-fat diet-induced obese mice. Methods Obese models by diet (60% fat) for 20 weeks using male C57BL/6 Insulin tolerance test performed status C-reactive protein (CRP) measured assess All animals underwent before sacrifice. Macrophage evaluated maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). Flow cytometry-, histological-, molecular analyses harvested VAT. Results showed resembled metabolic syndrome, pathophysiological process contributes increase CVD risk. SUVmax increased mice significantly correlated with levels CRP. Furthermore, from infiltration, compared normal Conclusions visualize obesity-driven model. Our strongly supports application assessment patients who vulnerable CVD. Funding Acknowledgement Type funding sources: None.