Abstract

Objectives

Mesenchymal stromal cells in muscles participate in regeneration following muscle injury. This study explored the potential of [18F]fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI)-42 PET targeting mesenchymal stromal cells to evaluate disease activity of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM).

Methods

Patients with IIM (n = 26) were prospectively included and underwent [18F]FAPI-42 PET/CT and whole-body MRI between January 2023 and July 2023. Patients with malignancies were retrospectively included in the control group and only underwent [18F]FAPI-42 PET/CT (n = 28). [18F]FAPI-42 PET/CT images were evaluated using for avid-FAPI uptake and the target-to-background ratio (TBR). Whole-body MRI was evaluated for oedema, fatty infiltration and atrophy in 42 muscles in the IIM group. The global FAPI- and MRI-derived parameters were calculated for each patient. Clinical assessment of disease activity and muscle strength were collected.

Results

Patients with IIM had significantly higher global FAPI-avid muscle ratios (0.68 [IQR: 0.45, 0.79] vs 0.06 [IQR: 0, 0.11], P < 0.001) and global muscle TBR (2.26 [IQR: 1.71, 2.75] vs 1.23 [IQR: 1.02, 1.52], P < 0.001) compared with controls. In the IIM group, the median TBR was higher in muscles with oedema than in those without (2.44 [IQR: 1.46, 3.27] vs 1.31 [IQR: 0.95, 1.99], P < 0.001). Global FAPI-avid muscle ratios significantly correlated with global oedema score (r = 0.833), muscle strength (r = −0.649), serum creatine kinase (r = 0.456) and disease activity index (r = 0.495–0.621).

Conclusion

Increased [18F]FAPI-42 uptake was associated with muscle oedema in IIM. FAPI-derived parameters correlated with IIM disease activity. [18F]FAPI-42 is a promising PET tracer for evaluating IIM disease activity.

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