Clinical Trials Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2017; 23(23): 4278-4284
Published online Jun 21, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i23.4278
Potential application of neogalactosylalbumin in positron emission tomography evaluation of liver function
Shun-Da Du, Shao-Hua Li, Bao Jin, Zhao-Hui Zhu, Yong-Hong Dang, Hai-Qun Xing, Fang Li, Xue-Bing Wang, Xin Lu, Xin-Ting Sang, Hua-Yu Yang, Shou-Xian Zhong, Yi-Lei Mao
Shun-Da Du, Shao-Hua Li, Bao Jin, Xin Lu, Xin-Ting Sang, Hua-Yu Yang, Shou-Xian Zhong, Yi-Lei Mao, Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Shao-Hua Li, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
Zhao-Hui Zhu, Yong-Hong Dang, Hai-Qun Xing, Fang Li, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Xue-Bing Wang, Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Author contributions: Du SD, Zhu ZH, Li F, Wang XB, Sang XT, Zhong SX and Mao YL designed the research; Du SD, Li SH, Jin B, Zhu ZH, Dang YH, Xing HQ, Lu X and Yang HY performed the research; Dang YH, Xing HQ, Wang XB and Yang HY contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Du SD, Li SH, Zhu ZH, Li F, Lu X, Sang XT, Yang HY and Mao YL analyzed the data; Du SD, Li SH, Jin B, Zhu ZH, Yang HY and Mao YL wrote the paper.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30901453 and No. 81201566; National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China, No. BAI06B01; and Youth Grant of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
Institutional review board statement: Animal Care and Use Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors state that no conflicts of interest exist.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at yileimao@126.com.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yi-Lei Mao, MD, PhD, Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, No. 1 Shuai-Fu-Yuan, Wangfujing, Beijing 100730, China. yileimao@126.com
Telephone: +86-10-69156042 Fax: +86-10-69156043
Received: August 27, 2016
Peer-review started: August 28, 2016
First decision: February 27, 2017
Revised: March 12, 2017
Accepted: April 12, 2017
Article in press: April 12, 2017
Published online: June 21, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the evaluation of neogalactosylalbumin (NGA) for liver function assessment based on positron emission tomography technology.

METHODS

Female Kunming mice were assigned randomly to two groups: fibrosis group and normal control group. A murine hepatic fibrosis model was generated by intraperitoneal injection of 10% carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) at 0.4 mL every 48 h for 42 d. 18F-labeled NGA ([18F]FNGA) was synthesized and administered at a dosage of 3.7 MBq/mouse to both fibrosis mice and normal control mice. Distribution of [18F]FNGA amongst organs was examined, and dynamic scanning was performed. Parameters were set up to compare the uptake of tracers by fibrotic liver and healthy liver. Serologic tests for liver function were also performed.

RESULTS

The liver function of the fibrosis model mice was significantly impaired by the use of CCl4. In the fibrosis model mice, hepatic fibrosis was verified by naked eye assessment and pathological analysis. [18F]FNGA was found to predominantly accumulate in liver and kidneys in both control group (n = 21) and fibrosis group (n = 23). The liver uptake ability (LUA), peak time (Tp), and uptake rate (LUR) of [18F]FNGA between healthy liver (n = 8) and fibrosis liver (n = 10) were significantly different (P < 0.05, < 0.01, and < 0.05, respectively). LUA was significantly correlated with total serum protein level (TP) (P < 0.05). Tp was significantly correlated with both TP and glucose (Glu) concentration (P < 0.05 both), and LUR was significantly correlated with both total bile acid and Glu concentration (P < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively).

CONCLUSION

[18F]FNGA mainly accumulated in liver and remained for sufficient time. Functionally-impaired liver showed a significant different uptake pattern of [18F]FNGA compared to the controls.

Keywords: Neogalactosylalbumin, Positron emission tomography, Liver function, Liver fibrosis, Mouse model

Core tip: Neogalactosylalbumin (NGA) is a specific ligand for asialoglycoprotein receptor that is exclusively expressed on the surface of hepatic parenchymal cells. This study showed [18F]FNGA mainly accumulated in liver and remained for sufficient time. Functionally-impaired liver showed a significant different uptake pattern of [18F]FNGA compared to controls.