PBR28 PET and Inflammatory Arthritis

The importance of the detection of early inflammatory arthritis is recognised as being essential to the prevention of permanent joint damage. Furthermore, drug development in inflammatory arthritis is in increasing need of imaging that is able to sensitively and accurately detect and quantify inflammation in a reproducible and objective manner. There is an increasing body of evidence to support the role of PET-CT for these indications. The PET tracer 11CPBR28 is specific to the translocator protein (TSPO) highly expressed on activated macrophages. In this proof of principle study, the investigators aim to ascertain whether or not the PET tracer 11CPBR28 is taken up in inflamed joints. The investigators also aim to explore the significance of TSPO to inflammatory arthritis, through blood and joint lining samples.