“In some ways this is analogous to doing a smart search with a search engine such as Google, where the search terms one uses guide the search. We inject the agent into a small peripheral vein and it circulates throughout the human body on its search for clots.” If it does not discover any clots, then it is quickly excreted from the physique; nonetheless, if it finds a clot and binds to it, clinicians can detect it with an imaging method often known as positron emission tomography.
Sosnovik and his colleagues first examined how the agent reacts (particularly, its metabolism and pharmacokinetics) in eight wholesome volunteers. After injection, the agent was initially steady throughout the physique after which was cleared from tissues inside a number of hours, suggesting that it was secure. Next, the crew administered the agent to sufferers with atrial fibrillation, some with clots within the coronary heart and a few with out.
“Obviously much more work and many more studies will need to be done before this changes routine clinical practice, but this first-in-human study is an important step,” says Sosnovik. “Importantly, this smart or molecularly targeted agent can be used to detect clots anywhere in the body.”
Sosnovik confused that the multidisciplinary nature of this mission was crucial to its success, with very important roles performed by numerous scientists, together with Peter Caravan, PhD, who invented and developed the examine’s agent and is the co-director of MGH’s Institute for Innovation in Imaging. “This probe was invented and optimized in my laboratory by a dedicated team of chemists and biologists through the support of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health,” says Caravan. “It is extremely gratifying to see these years of effort come to fruition with a fibrin-specific PET probe with the potential to make a real impact on human health.”
Others enjoying a serious position within the examine included David Izquierdo-Garcia, PhD, an assistant in Biomedical Engineering at MGH, and Ciprian Catana, MD, PhD, director of Integrated MR-PET Imaging at MGH’s Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. Izquierdo-Garcia, the lead creator on the paper, and Catana each confused the revolutionary nature of the imaging platform used within the examine. “Not only did we use a novel molecular imaging probe in humans for the first time, but also, this is one of the first studies to fully explore the synergies and advantages of integrated PET-MRI scanners,” says Izquierdo-Garcia.
“It is a privilege to work at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and be part of multidisciplinary teams that collaborate to develop and apply cutting-edge imaging technologies,” provides Catana. “We were the first site in the U.S. to install a fully integrated PET-MRI scanner and have played a major role in the advancement and clinical translation of this technology.”
Source: Eurekalert
