In vivo evaluation of TNF-alpha in the lungs of patients affected by sarcoidosis

Galli, F., Lanzolla, T., Pietrangeli, V., Malviya, G. , Ricci, A., Bruno, P., Ragni, P., Scopinaro, F., Mariotta, S. and Signore, A. (2015) In vivo evaluation of TNF-alpha in the lungs of patients affected by sarcoidosis. BioMed Research International, 2015, 401341. (doi: 10.1155/2015/401341) (PMID:25866780) (PMCID:PMC4383433)

Abstract

Introduction. Sarcoidosis is a multi systemic granulomatous disorder characterized by multiple noncaseating granulomas involving intrathoracic lymph nodes and lung parenchyma. Recently, the use of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFα) agents has been introduced for therapy of chronic and refractory sarcoidosis with controversial results. Infliximab (Remicade) is a chimeric monoclonal antibody (mAb) that recognizes and bindsTNFα,neutralizing its biological effects. In the present study, 99mTc labelled infliximab was used to study the expression of TNFα in sarcoid lesions and to evaluate its role as a predictive marker in response to therapy with Remicade. Material and Methods. A total of 10 patients with newly diagnosed sarcoidosis were enrolled together with 10 control patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis. All patients were studied by planar imaging of the chest with 99mTc-infliximab at 6h and 24h and total body [18F]-FDG PET/CT. Regions of interest were drawn over the lungs and the right arm and target-to-background ratios were analysed for 99mTc-infliximab. SUVmean and SUVmax were calculated over lungs for FDG. Results and Discussion. Image analysis showed low correlation between T/B ratios and BAL results in patients despite positivity at [18F]-FDG PET. Conclusion. In conclusion, patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary sarcoidosis, with FDG-PET and BAL positivity, showed a negative 99mTc-infliximab scintigraphy.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Malviya, Dr Gaurav
• Authors: Galli, F., Lanzolla, T., Pietrangeli, V., Malviya, G., Ricci, A., Bruno, P., Ragni, P., Scopinaro, F., Mariotta, S., and Signore, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: BioMed Research International
• Publisher: Hindawi Publishing Corporation
• ISSN: 2314-6133
• ISSN (Online): 2314-6141
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Filippo Galli et al.
• First Published: First published in BioMed Research International 2015:401341
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons licence