Anatomical MRI and [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT imaging of Schistosoma mansoni in a NMRI mouse model

Schistosomiasis represents one of the most devastating worm parasitosis in the world. Current diagnostic methods are insufficient to determine the infection grade and the disease related organ damage. We herein investigated whether discrimination of infection grade and its correlation to liver damage could be accurately performed by multimodal imaging in a mouse model of Schistosoma mansoni infection. Therefore, groups of uninfected and infected mice underwent MRI and [F-18]FDG PET/CT imaging. Anatomical MRI images were used for liver volumetry and for quantification of hepatic granulomas. For PET/CT images a volume of interest based analyses were employed to calculate the [F-18]FDG uptake in liver, portal vein, spleen and abdomen. Herein, we demonstrate that the combined use of [F-18]FDG-PET/CT and MRI represents an appropriate diagnostic tool for Schistosoma mansoni infection, but fails to discriminate the infection grade and the linked organ damage. Only the splenic [F-18]FDG uptake in the 25 cercariae group (5.68 +/- 0.90%ID/cc) and 50 cercariae group (4.98 +/- 1.43%ID/cc) was significantly higher compared to the control group (2.13 +/- 0.69%ID/cc). Nevertheless, future multimodal imaging studies with new radiopharmaceuticals could build a highly sensitive and specific basis for the diagnosis and evaluation of organ damage of schistosomiasis.