In vivo imaging of invasive aspergillosis with 18F-fluorodeoxysorbitol positron emission tomography

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 1926
• Main Authors: Kim, Dong-Yeon, Pyo, Ayoung, Ji, Sehyeon, You, Sung-Hwan, Kim, Seong Eun, Lim, Daejin, Kim, Heejung, Lee, Kyung-Hwa, Oh, Se-Jeong, Jung, Ye-rim, Kim, Uh Jin, Jeon, Subin, Kwon, Seong Young, Kang, Sae-Ryung, Lee, Hyang Burm, Hyun, Hoon, Kim, So-Young, Moon, Kyung-Sub, Lee, Sunwoo, Kang, Seung Ji, Min, Jung-Joon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08-04-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 59/78; 631/326/193/2542; 631/326/2521; 692/308/2778; 692/699/255/1672; Animal models; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus fumigatus; Brain; Diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; Differential diagnosis; Emission analysis; Emissions; Fluorine isotopes; Fungal infections; Humanities and Social Sciences; Immunocompromised hosts; Infections; Influenza; Invasiveness; Localization; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; Lungs; multidisciplinary; Muscles; Neuroimaging; Patients; Positron emission; Positron emission tomography; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Staphylococcus aureus; Tomography; Viral diseases; Yard waste
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29553-5

Invasive aspergillosis is a critical complication in immunocompromised patients with hematologic malignancies or with viral pneumonia caused by influenza virus or SARS‑CoV‑2. Although early and accurate diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis can maximize clinical outcomes, current diagnostic methods are time-consuming and poorly sensitive. Here, we assess the ability of 2-deoxy-2-
18
F-fluorosorbitol (
18
F-FDS) positron emission tomography (PET) to specifically and noninvasively detect
Aspergillus
infections. We show that
18
F-FDS PET can be used to visualize
Aspergillus fumigatus
infection of the lungs, brain, and muscles in mouse models. In particular,
18
F-FDS can distinguish pulmonary aspergillosis from
Staphylococcus aureus
infection, both of which induce pulmonary infiltrates in immunocompromised patients. Thus, our results indicate that the combination of
18
F-FDS PET and appropriate clinical information may be useful in the differential diagnosis and localization of invasive aspergillosis.
Current diagnostic methods for invasive aspergillosis are time-consuming and poorly sensitive. Here, the authors show that positron emission tomography with 2-deoxy-2-
18
F-fluorosorbitol can visualize
Aspergillus fumigatus
infection of the lungs, brain and muscles in mouse models, and can distinguish pulmonary aspergillosis from other diseases such as
Staphylococcus aureus
infection and lung cancer.