Tools for Bioimaging Pancreatic β Cells in Diabetes.

When diabetes is diagnosed, the majority of insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells are already dysfunctional or destroyed. This β cell dysfunction/destruction usually takes place over many years, making timely detection and clinical intervention difficult. For this reason, there is immense interest in developing tools to bioimage β cell mass and/or function noninvasively to facilitate early diagnosis of diabetes as well as to assist the development of novel antidiabetic therapies. Recent years have brought significant progress in β cell imaging that is now inching towards clinical applicability. We explore here the need to bioimage human β cells noninvasively in various types of diabetes, and we discuss current and emerging tools for bioimaging β cells. Further developments in this field are expected to facilitate β cell imaging in diabetes. Diabetic patients suffer from β cell failures that manifest in the loss of β cell mass and/or function. Presently, there is no clinically validated bioimaging probe for the measurement of human pancreatic β cells, which makes early detection of diabetes difficult. Multiple proposed β cell-specific markers have been targeted using radioactively labeled tracers or contrast agents detectable by MRI, PET, or SPECT. Emerging technologies also explore fluorescent low molecular weight probes to target β cells. Currently, many β cell bioimaging tools are studied in a preclinical setting in rodent models and provide valuable proof-of-concept to be further matured. A small number of potential β cell-specific probes have now reached clinical studies. Successful clinical translation could revolutionize the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]