Journal
NATURE MEDICINE
Volume 7, Issue 12, Pages 1347-1352Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nm1201-1347
Keywords
-
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Heart transplant rejection is characterized pathologically by myocyte necrosis and apoptosis associated with interstitial! mononuclear cell infiltration. Any one of these components: can be targeted for noninvasive detection of transplant rejection. During apoptotic cell death, phosphatidylserine, a phospholipid that is normally confined to the inner leaflet of cell membrane bilayer, gets exteriorized. Technetium-99m-labeled annexin-V, an endogenous protein that has high affinity for binding to phosphatidylserine, has been administered intravenously for noninvasive identification of apoptotic cell death. In the present study of 18 cardiac allograft recipients, 13 patients had negative and five had positive myocardial uptake of annexin. These latter five demonstrated at least moderate transplant rejection and caspase-3 staining, suggesting apoptosis in their biopsy specimens. This study reveals the clinical feasibility and safety of annexin-V imaging for noninvasive detection of transplant rejection by targeting cell membrane phospholipid alterations that are commonly associated with the process of apoptosis.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available