Phagocytosis of a PFOB-Nanoemulsion for 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging: First Results in Monocytes of Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease and ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 11; p. 2058
• Main Authors: Nienhaus, Fabian, Colley, Denise, Jahn, Annika, Pfeiler, Susanne, Flocke, Vera, Temme, Sebastian, Kelm, Malte, Gerdes, Norbert, Flögel, Ulrich, Bönner, Florian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 30-05-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: 19F MRI; Antibodies; Cardiovascular disease; Cell viability; Clinical trials; Coronary artery; Coronary artery disease; Coronary vessels; Flow cytometry; Fluorine; Heart attacks; Heart diseases; Inflammation; Inflammatory diseases; Ingestion; Macrophages; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Medical prognosis; Monocytes; Myocardial infarction; Nanoemulsions; Neutrophils; Particle size; Patients; Perfluorocarbons; perfluorooctyl bromide; PFOB; Phagocytosis; Plasma; Resonance; STEMI; Translation
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules24112058
• EISSN: 1420-3049

Fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI) with intravenously applied perfluorooctyl bromide-nanoemulsions (PFOB-NE) has proven its feasibility to visualize inflammatory processes in experimental disease models. This approach is based on the properties of monocytes/macrophages to ingest PFOB-NE particles enabling specific cell tracking in vivo. However, information on safety (cellular function and viability), mechanism of ingestion and impact of specific disease environment on PFOB-NE uptake is lacking. This information is, however, crucial for the interpretation of 19F MRI signals and a possible translation to clinical application. To address these issues, whole blood samples were collected from patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) and healthy volunteers. Samples were exposed to fluorescently-labeled PFOB-NE and particle uptake, cell viability and migration activity was evaluated by flow cytometry and MRI. We were able to show that PFOB-NE is ingested by human monocytes in a time- and subset-dependent manner via active phagocytosis. Monocyte function (migration, phagocytosis) and viability was maintained after PFOB-NE uptake. Monocytes of STEMI and SCAD patients did not differ in their maximal PFOB-NE uptake compared to healthy controls. In sum, our study provides further evidence for a safe translation of PFOB-NE for imaging purposes in humans.