Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a imaging technique that visualizes various physiological and pathological processes by labeling biomolecules with positron-emitting radionuclides. These labeled biomolecules (tracers) emit positrons that annihilate with electrons, producing gamma rays detected by PET cameras. Small animal PET imaging is crucial for developing new tracers, using rodents to evaluate them before using in patients. The care and handling of these animals significantly influence scan quality, requiring careful consideration of species, strain, sex, disease model, nutritional status, anesthetics, monitoring, and injection methods.
This thesis of Jurgen Sijbesma includes studies on different diets for therapeutic aims, a novel animal model of atherosclerosis, a new blood sampling technique, and the impact of sex differences in small animal imaging.
Chapter 2 investigates the effects of anabolic steroids combined with different diets on glucose imaging. The study found that steroids do not affect glucose imaging but alter body weight and myocardial volume. Chapter 3 explores the impact of a high-protein diet on myocardial glucose consumption finding no effect but the diet reduced body weight and fat percentage. Chapter 4 shows that caloric restriction is an effective treatment against proteinuria in rats with kidney disease. Chapter 5 introduces a new atherosclerotic rat model, proving it viable for longitudinal imaging studies. Chapter 6 presents a novel technique for repeated arterial blood sampling, enabling longitudinal quantitative PET studies. Finally, Chapter 7 assesses the feasibility of using both male and female animals in imaging studies, highlighting differences due to varied anesthesia responses rather than inherent gender differences.
