Dynamic [18F]-FCA PET-CT in a mouse

18F-FCA is a radiolabeled bile acid analogue which can be used to visualize hepatobiliary transport (De Lombaerde et al., 2017, Plos One). Several drugs are inhibitor of the involved transporters, which can lead to severe drug induced liver injury. Therefore, 18F-FCA is an ideal tracer to study interactions of new drug candidates with hepatobiliary transporters.

A mouse of 23g was injected with 120 µCi (4.44 MBq) 18F-FCA after scan initiation. A 20 minute PET acquisition was acquired on the β-CUBE, followed by a general purpose CT on the X-CUBE for anatomical correlation. The PET data was divided in 8 frames of 15 seconds, 16 frames of 30 seconds and 10 frames of 60 seconds and was reconstructed using an OSEM algorithm with a reconstructed voxel size of 400 µm. The CT data was iteratively reconstructed with a voxel size of 200 µm. PMOD 3.8 was used to obtain dynamic MIP images.

In the image below you can nicely see that first the tracer is distributed in the blood pool, then it is transported into the liver, and finally it enters the galbladder and intestines.

Dynamic PET acquisition after injection of 120 µCi (4.44 MBq) [18F]-FCA, a bile acid analogue (Stef de Lombaerde et al., 2017, Plos One)