Correlation of MPO expression with 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters in patients with histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To investigate the relationship between the metabolic activity of 18F-FDG in histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (HNL) and its immunophenotype. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 76 patients with pathologically confirmed HNL who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT prior to treatment. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax)，metabolic tumor volume (MTV)，and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured. Analysis of the correlation of each metabolic parameter with the expression status of myeloperoxidase (MPO). The differences of PET/CT metabolic parameters between different expression states of MPO were compared and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were plotted to obtain the best cut-off values of PET/CT metabolic parameters to predict MPO expression. Results: 23 cases were negative for MPO expression, 16 cases were weakly positive for MPO expression, and 37 cases were positive for MPO expression. SUVmax , MTV and TLG were all associated with MPO expression status in HNL (P < 0.05). MPO expression status was positively correlated with SUVmax and TLG (P < 0.05). The ROC curves of 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters for predicting MPO expression showed that SUVmax and TLG were of predictive value, with the highest diagnostic efficiency, sensitivity of 91.9% and 86.5%, and specificity of 71.8% and 76.9% when the cut-off values were 10.90 and 37.1, respectively. Conclusion：18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters, especially SUVmax and TLG, correlated well with MPO expression status. 18F-FDG PET/CT can be used as an imaging tool for non-invasive assessment of MPO immune expression.