Lymphoid neogenesis occurs in tissues targeted by chronic inflammatory processes, such as infection and autoimmunity. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), such structures develop within the kidneys of lupus-prone mice ((NZBXNZW)F1) and are observed in kidney biopsies taken from SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN). The purpose of this prospective longitudinal animal study was to detect early kidney changes and tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) using in vivo imaging. Positron emission tomography (PET) by tail vein injection of 18-F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG)(PET/FDG) combined with computed tomography (CT) for anatomical localization and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) by intraperitoneal injection of ^99mTC labeled Albumin Nanocoll (^99mTC-Nanocoll) were performed on different disease stages of NZB/W mice (n = 40) and on aged matched control mice (BALB/c) (n = 20). By using one-way ANOVA analyses, we compared two different compartmental models for the quantitative measure of ¹⁸F-FDG uptake within the kidneys. Using a new five-compartment model, we observed that glomerular filtration of ^18FFDG in lupus-prone mice decreased significantly by disease progression measured by anti-dsDNA Ab production and before onset of proteinuria. We could not visualize TLS within the kidneys, but we were able to visualize pancreatic TLS using ^99mTC Nanocoll SPECT. Based on our findings, we conclude that the five-compartment model can be used to measure changes of FDG uptake within the kidney. However, new optimal PET/SPECT tracer administration sites together with more specific tracers in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may make it possible to detect formation of TLS and LN before clinical manifestations.

淋巴新生发生在以慢性炎症过程为目标的组织中，例如感染和自身免疫。在系统性红斑狼疮 (SLE) 中，此类结构在易患狼疮的小鼠 ((NZBXNZW)F1) 的肾脏内发育，并且在从患有狼疮肾炎 (LN) 的 SLE 患者的肾活检中观察到。这项前瞻性纵向动物研究的目的是使用体内成像检测早期肾脏变化和三级淋巴结构 (TLS)。尾静脉注射 18-F-氟-2-脱氧-D-葡萄糖 ( ¹⁸ F-FDG) (PET/FDG)正电子发射断层扫描 (PET)结合计算机断层扫描 (CT) 进行解剖定位和单光子发射计算通过腹腔注射^99m TC 标记的白蛋白 Nanocoll ( ^99m ) 进行断层扫描 (SPECT)TC-Nanocoll) 对 NZB/W 小鼠 ( n = 40) 和老年匹配对照小鼠 (BALB/c) ( n = 20) 的不同疾病阶段进行。通过使用单向 ANOVA 分析，我们比较了两种不同的隔室模型，用于定量测量肾脏内¹⁸ F-FDG 的摄取。使用新的五室模型，我们观察到在易患狼疮的小鼠中，^18F FDG 的肾小球滤过通过抗 dsDNA Ab 产生和蛋白尿发作前测量的疾病进展显着降低。我们无法可视化肾脏内的 TLS，但我们能够使用^99m可视化胰腺 TLSTC Nanocoll SPECT。根据我们的研究结果，我们得出结论，五室模型可用于测量肾脏内 FDG 摄取的变化。然而，新的最佳 PET/SPECT 示踪剂给药部位以及更具体的示踪剂与磁共振成像 (MRI) 相结合，可以在临床表现之前检测 TLS 和 LN 的形成。