Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Mar 22;13(4):775.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13040775.

FAPi PET/CT Imaging to Identify Fibrosis in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases

Dalia A Lartey  1   2   3 , Lynn A Schilder  2 , Gerben J C Zwezerijnen  4 , Geert R A M D'Haens  2 , Joep Grootjans  1   2   3 , Mark Löwenberg  2
Affiliations
Review

FAPi PET/CT Imaging to Identify Fibrosis in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases

Dalia A Lartey et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are characterized by chronic systemic inflammation and multi-organ involvement. Fibrosis formation in IMIDs can cause tissue destruction and subsequently organ malfunction. Fibroblast activation protein inhibitor positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FAPi PET/CT) represents a novel imaging technique that holds great potential to visualize in vivo fibrosis. We here provide an overview of available evidence on FAPi PET/CT imaging to visualize fibrosis in various IMIDs, including interstitial lung diseases, immunoglobulin G4-related diseases, cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, and gastrointestinal diseases. FAPi PET/CT imaging demonstrates high sensitivity in detecting early fibrosis, correlating with disease severity, across different IMIDs, showing superiority compared to conventional imaging modalities. Although FAPi PET/CT might be a useful tool to assess fibrosis formation, thereby aiding in grading disease severity and staging, future studies should include larger sample sizes in a broad variety of IMIDs with emphasis on the optimization of imaging protocols to further validate its diagnostic value.

Keywords: FAPi PET/CT; fibroblast activation protein (FAP); fibrosis; immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs); positron emission tomography imaging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

M.L.: consultancy/lecture fees from Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Janssen-Cilag, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, Pfizer, Takeda, Tillotts. Central reader for Alimentiv. Grants received from ZonMW, Galapagos, NFU transformation deal, and TKI (unrelated). D.A.L.: declares no conflicts of interest. L.A.S.: declares no conflicts of interest. G.J.C.Z.: declares no conflicts of interest. J.G.: has a collaboration with Roche (unrelated). G.R.A.M.D.: research grants from Abbvie, Alimentiv, BMS, J&J, Pfizer, Takeda; consulting fees from Abbvie, Agomab, Alimentiv, AstraZeneca, AMT, Bristol Meiers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celltrion, Eli Lilly, Exeliom Biosciences, Galapagos, Index Pharmaceuticals, Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Polpharma, Procise Diagnostics, Prometheus laboratories, Prometheus Biosciences, Protagonist, and Ventyx; speaker’s fees from Abbvie, Celltrion, Galapagos, Pfizer, and Takeda; data monitoring board: Galapagos, AstraZeneca, Seres Health (unrelated).

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Kuwert T., Schmidkonz C., Prante O., Schett G., Ramming A. FAPI PET Opens a New Window to Understanding Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases. J. Nucl. Med. 2022;63:1136–1137. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.122.263922. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rieder F., Fiocchi C., Rogler G. Mechanisms, Management, and Treatment of Fibrosis in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Gastroenterology. 2017;152:340–350.e346. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.09.047. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hamson E.J., Keane F.M., Tholen S., Schilling O., Gorrell M.D. Understanding fibroblast activation protein (FAP): Substrates, activities, expression and targeting for cancer therapy. Proteomics Clin. Appl. 2014;8:454–463. doi: 10.1002/prca.201300095. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dondi F., Albano D., Treglia G., Bertagna F. Emerging Role of FAPI PET Imaging for the Assessment of Benign Bone and Joint Diseases. J. Clin. Med. 2022;11:4514. doi: 10.3390/jcm11154514. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schmidkonz C., Kuwert T., Gotz T.I., Ramming A., Atzinger A. Recent advances in nuclear medicine and their role in inflammatory arthritis: Focus on the emerging role of FAPI PET/CT. Skeletal Radiol. 2024:1–10. doi: 10.1007/s00256-024-04834-w. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources