Relationship between evaluation by quantitative fatty acid myocardial scintigraphy and response to beta-blockade therapy in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

123I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging in patients with chronic heart failure

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present study was to clarify the ability of 123I-beta-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid (123I-BMIPP) to evaluate the heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and myocardial global washout rate (WR) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

METHODS

The severity of CHF was evaluated on the basis of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Twenty patients with CHF (13 with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and 7 with ischemic cardiomyopathy) and 11 age-matched controls underwent myocardial radionuclide imaging. Scintigraphic images were obtained from each participant at the early (30 min following radio-isotope injection) and late (4 h) phases using 123I-BMIPP. The H/M ratio and WR were calculated from planar images. Concentrations of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured prior to the scintigraphic study.

RESULTS

The 123I-BMIPP uptake of early H/M and global WR did not significantly differ among groups, but uptake of delayed H/M was significantly lower in patients with NYHA class III than in controls (control 2.47 +/- 0.39; class III 1.78 +/- 0.28, P < 0.05). The uptake of delayed H/M and global WR correlated with plasma log BNP in all participants (r = -0.38, P < 0.05; 0.43, P < 0.05, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that 123I-BMIPP uptake of delayed H/M enhances the image of CHF severity. The myocardial WR of 123I-BMIPP also effectively depicted the severity of CHF.

Long chain fatty acid uptake in vivo: comparison of [125I]-BMIPP and [3H]-bromopalmitate

Insulin resistance is characterized by increased metabolic uptake of fatty acids. Accordingly, techniques to examine in vivo shifts in fatty acid metabolism are of value in both clinical and experimental settings. Partially metabolizable long chain fatty acid (LCFA) tracers have been recently developed and employed for this purpose: [9,10-3H]-(R)-2-bromopalmitate ([3H]-BROMO) and [125I]-15-(rho-iodophenyl)-3-R,S-methylpentadecanoic acid ([125I]-BMIPP). These analogues are taken up like native fatty acids, but once inside the cell do not directly enter beta-oxidation. Rather, they become trapped in the slower processes of omega and alpha-oxidation. Study aims were to (1) simultaneously assess and compare [3H]-BROMO and [125I]-BMIPP and (2) determine if tracer breakdown is affected by elevated metabolic demands. Catheters were implanted in a carotid artery and jugular vein of Sprague-Dawley rats. Following 5 days recovery, fasted animals (5 h) underwent a rest (n = 8) or exercise (n = 8) (0.6 mi/h) protocol. An instantaneous bolus containing both [3H]-BROMO and [125I]-BMIPP was administered to determine LCFA uptake. No significant difference between [125I]-BMIPP and [3H]-BROMO uptake was found in cardiac or skeletal muscle during rest or exercise. In liver, rates of uptake were more than doubled with [3H]-BROMO compared to [125I]-BMIPP. Analysis of tracer conversion by TLC demonstrated no difference at rest. Exercise resulted in greater metabolism and excretion of tracers with approximately 37% and approximately 53% of [125I]-BMIPP and [3H]-BROMO present in conversion products at 40 min. In conclusion, [3H]-BROMO and [125I]-BMIPP are indistinguishable for the determination of tissue kinetics at rest in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Exercise preferentially exacerbates the breakdown of [3H]-BROMO, making [125I]-BMIPP the analogue of choice for prolonged (>30 min) experimental protocols with elevated metabolic demands.

Prediction of cardiac events in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy using 123I-BMIPP and 201Tl myocardial scintigraphy

OBJECTIVE

Various clinical trials for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) have demonstrated that the prognosis as well as cardiac function is improved by the administration of beta-blocker therapy. On the other hand, 123I-betamethyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) reflects myocardial fatty acid metabolism and is considered to be a more sensitive tracer than perfusion tracers. In this study, the efficacy of DCM for the evaluation of myocardial damage and the prediction of cardiac events was studied using 123I-BMIPP and 201TI (Tl) myocardial scintigraphy.

METHODS

Study subjects comprised 33 DCM patients, divided into a cardiac event group (event, n = 9) and an event-free group (event free, n = 24). An extent score (ES) and severity score (SS) were calculated for each BMIPP image. BMIPP and Tl images were divided into 17 segments, and total defect scores (TDS) were calculated for each. The TDS of the BMIPP and Tl images were compared with score differences greater than or equal to 4 and less than 4 defined as mismatch and non-mismatch, respectively.

RESULTS

The TDS of BMIPP was significantly higher in the event group than in the event-free group (P < 0.05). The ES and SS were significantly higher in the event group than in the event-free group (P < 0.01). The comparison in the 2 x 2 contingency tables showed that the occurrence of non-mismatch was significantly higher in the event-free group (chi2 test; P < 0.01). The ES of BMIPP was a significant predictor of cardiac events in the multivariate analysis (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the ES for BMIPP is useful as a predictor of cardiac events in DCM.

Metabolic imaging using SPECT

INTRODUCTION

In normal condition, the heart obtains more than two-thirds of its energy from the oxidative metabolism of long chain fatty acids, although a wide variety of substrates such as glucose, lactate, ketone bodies and amino acids are also utilised. In ischaemic myocardium, on the other hand, oxidative metabolism of free fatty acid is suppressed and anaerobic glucose metabolism plays a major role in residual oxidative metabolism. Therefore, metabolic imaging can be an important technique for the assessment of various cardiac diseases and conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In SPECT, several iodinated fatty acid traces have been introduced and studied. Of these, (123)I-labelled 15-(p-iodophenyl)3-R, S-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) has been the most commonly used tracer in clinical studies, especially in some of the European countries and Japan.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this review article, several fatty acid tracers for SPECT are characterised, and the mechanism of uptake and clinical utility of BMIPP are discussed in detail.

Nuclear Cardiology: Present and Future

Nuclear cardiology has made significant advances since the first reports of planar scintigraphy for the evaluation of left ventricular perfusion and function. While the current "state of the art" of gated myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) imaging offers invaluable diagnostic and prognostic information for the evaluation of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD), advances in the cellular and molecular biology of the cardiovascular system have helped to usher in a new modality in nuclear cardiology, namely, molecular imaging. In this review, we will discuss the current state of the art in nuclear cardiology, which includes SPECT and positron emission tomographic evaluation of myocardial perfusion, evaluation of left ventricular function by gated myocardial perfusion SPECT and gated blood pool SPECT, and the evaluation of myocardial viability with PET and SPECT methods. In addition, we will discuss the future of nuclear cardiology and the role that molecular imaging will play in the early detection of CAD at the level of the vulnerable plaque, the evaluation of cardiac remodeling, and monitoring of important new therapies including gene therapy and stem cell therapy.