Association of leukotrienes and prostaglandins with splenic 18F-FDG uptake in hepatobiliary cancer patients.

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between lipid metabolites and diffuse splenic 18F-FDG uptake with the means of leukotriene (LT) and prostaglandin (PG). We enrolled 36 patients with hepatobiliary malignancies who underwent fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyuglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for staging workup. Patients were divided into two groups according to spleen to liver ratio (S/L ratio) of 18F-FDG uptake. Blood sample of each patient was collected on the day of conducting PET/CT scanning. Several types of LT and PG, including LTB4, LTC4, LTE4, PGD2, PGE2, and PGF2α were measured from blood plasma samples from 36 patients using enzyme immunoassay (EIA kit, Cayman Chemical Co.). White blood cell counts (P=0.0176) and C-reactive protein (P=0.0036) were higher in patients with splenic 18F-FDG uptake exceeding hepatic 18F-FDG uptake. Among the several types of PG and LT, PGD2 (P=0.0033) was higher in patients with hepatic 18F-FDG uptake exceeding splenic 18F-FDG uptake, however, LTC4 (P=0.0237) and LTE4 (P=0.0429) were higher in patients with splenic 18F-FDG uptake over hepatic uptake. Higher levels of LTC4 and lower levels of PGD2 are shown in patients with splenic 18F-FDG uptake. If the clinician incidentally finds splenic 18F-FDG uptake exceeding hepatic uptake, concurrent inflammation should be considered.