evaluation of cardiac mitochondrial function by a nuclear imaging technique using technetium-99m-mibi uptake kinetics

mitochondria play an important role in energy production for the cell. the proper function of a myocardial cell largely depends on the functional capacity of the mitochondria.  therefore it is necessary to establish a novel and reliable method for a non-invasive assessment of mitochondrial function and metabolism in humans. although originally designed for evaluating myocardial perfusion, 99mtc-mibi can be also used to evaluate cardiac mitochondrial function. in a clinical study on ischemic heart disease, reverse redistribution of 99mtc-mibi was evident after direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. the presence of increased washout of 99mtc-mibi was associated with the infarct-related artery and preserved left ventricular function. in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, an increased washout rate of 99mtc-mibi, which correlated inversely with left ventricular ejection fraction, was observed in patients with congestive heart failure. increased 99mtc-mibi washout was also observed in mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (melas) and in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. noninvasive assessment of cardiac mitochondrial function could be greatly beneficial in monitoring possible cardiotoxic drug use and in the evaluation of cardiac damage in clinical medicine.