Imaging bacteria with radiolabelled probes : is it feasible?

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Signore, Alberto
Artiko, Vera
Conserva, Martina
Ferro-Flores, Guillermina
Welling, Mick M.
Jain, Sanjay K.
Hess, Soren
Sathekge, Mike Machaba

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI

Abstract

Bacterial infections are the main cause of patient morbidity and mortality worldwide. Diagnosis can be di cult and delayed as well as the identification of the etiological pathogen, necessary for a tailored antibiotic therapy. Several non-invasive diagnostic procedures are available, all with pros and cons. Molecular nuclear medicine has highly contributed in this field by proposing several di erent radiopharmaceuticals (antimicrobial peptides, leukocytes, cytokines, antibiotics, sugars, etc.) but none proved to be highly specific for bacteria, although many agents in development look promising. Indeed, factors including the number and strain of bacteria, the infection site, and the host condition, may a ect the specificity of the tested radiopharmaceuticals. At the Third European Congress on Infection/Inflammation Imaging, a round table discussion was dedicated to debate the pros and cons of di erent radiopharmaceuticals for imaging bacteria with the final goal to find a consensus on the most relevant research steps that should be fulfilled when testing a new probe, based on experience and cumulative published evidence.

Description

Conceptualization of this paper was made by A.S. and M.S.; data were obtained and analyzed by G.F.-F., M.M.W. and S.K.J. and S.H.; draft preparation by M.C. and A.S.; review and editing by A.S., V.A., M.C., G.F.-F., M.M.W., S.K.J., S.H. and M.S.

Keywords

Infection, Bacteria, Radiopharmaceutical, Molecular imaging, Nuclear medicine

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Signore, A., Artiko, V., Conserva, M. et al. 2020, 'Imaging bacteria with radiolabelled probes : is it feasible?', Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 9, art. 2372, pp. 1-10.