Imaging methods to detect early stages of atherosclerosis

Magnetic resonance imaging of atherosclerosis - A novel pretargeted approach

BHF Research Fellow Dr Marco Meloni is developing better ways to image blood vessels to help doctors detect the early stages of atherosclerosis, when arteries fur up and narrow. This condition can develop over several decades without symptoms, and can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Imaging systems such as MRI use contrast agents to make internal body structures visible in the scan. Some contrast agents target particular proteins or tissues, and although several are available, their clinical use is limited. Dr Meloni wants to overcome these limitations and develop a toolkit for the molecular imaging of atherosclerosis. This toolkit will have two elements, the first agent will target a range of molecules on inflamed blood vessels and the second agent will bind and label the first agent for visualisation by MRI. The project has three key stages. First Dr Meloni is designing and creating the elements of his toolkit using synthetic chemistry. These elements will then be assessed in artificial vascular tubes before testing in the aorta of rabbits with atherosclerosis. The new agents developed in this project could help doctors detect and treat early stages of atherosclerosis by providing better images of inflamed blood vessels than we currently have. Early treatment reduces the risk of the disease developing to cause a heart attack or stroke.