Diagnosis of pathological conditions in laboratory animals by using advance nuclear medicine imaging techniques

Abstract

Unlike human clinical practice, veterinary science has relied on histopathological analysis for differential diagnosis of patholog-ical conditions. However, very few attempts have been made to develop a tissue specific, non invasive, targeted imaging diagnostic tool which acts as complimentary to histopathology providing integrative outcome with much deeper insight of the pathological conditions. In present study, weat tempted to correlate PET/SPECT imaging modalities with histopathology to diagnose cancer and other pathological conditions in preclinical models in a more comprehensive way. The PET/CT imaging of spontaneous growth in rabbits (n=1) showed increased[18F] FDG and [18F]FET uptake compared to [18F]FLT, suggesting inflammatory growth. Similarly, imaging in C57Bl/6 mice (n=15) demonstrated selective accumulation of [18F] FLT in highly proliferating malignant tumor cells (n=1). Also, in salivary gland dysfunction model in rabbits (n=11), histological changes in the gland were correlated with scintigraphy. Histopathological diagnosis was used for confirmation of the type of lesion in each case. SPECT/PET-CT imaging techniques proved to be useful in the diagnosis and differentiation of inflammation and malignant tumors. However, it has limitations with inability to define the histological features of the tissue. Imaging findings and histopathological tissue analysis together increase the accuracy and specificity in detailed diagnosis or prognosis of the diseased condition.