{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]],"date-time":"2026-08-29T07:20:47Z","timestamp":1787988047522,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universit\u00e4tsklinikum W\u00fcrzburg"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Distinguishing active inflammatory or remodeling-associated processes from irreversible fibrosis in systemic sclerosis remains challenging using conventional imaging modalities. The tracer [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor targets the C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) which is expressed on leukocytes. Uptake of [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor may provide complementary biological information on CXCR4-associated inflammatory and remodeling activity.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This prospective cohort study included patients with early SSc (disease duration\u2009\u2264\u20095\u00a0years) and preexisting interstitial lung disease. All patients underwent [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor-PET\/CT imaging. Normalized [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor uptake was quantified using the target-to-background ratio (TBR). Follow-up data on disease progression was collected. A control group comprised patients with giant cell arteritis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Twelve patients with SSc were included. The highest [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor uptake was observed in the hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes, in fibrotic lung regions, and in the left ventricular myocardium. In all three regions, a significantly higher [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor uptake was measured in SSc compared to controls (median TBR of lymph nodes 3.5 [IQR 2.7 \u2013 4.3] vs 1.6 [1.3 \u2013 2.0]\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&lt;\u20090.0001; inferior lung lobes 2.3 [1.6 \u2013 2.8] vs 0.8 [0.7 \u2013 1.0],\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&lt;\u20090.0001; and left ventricle 2.0 [1.4 \u2013 2.4] vs 1.3 [1.1 \u2013 1.5],\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.0178). Patients who developed progressive lung disease during follow-up showed a higher [\n                      <jats:sup>68<\/jats:sup>\n                      Ga]Pentixafor uptake compared to non-progressive patients reaching statistical significance in the left ventricle (TBR of progressive vs non-progressive patients: 2.5 (2.1 \u2013 3.3) vs 1.5 (1.3 \u2013 2.1),\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.0283) and showing a numerical increase in fibrotic lung regions (2.8 (2.2 \u2013 3.3) vs 1.7 (1.1 \u2013 2.8),\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.1535).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings provide proof-of-concept evidence that CXCR4-targeted PET\/CT may visualize biologically active inflammatory and\/or remodeling processes in early-stage SSc-ILD.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00259-026-08000-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T04:38:43Z","timestamp":1781584723000},"page":"6632-6640","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["CXCR4-targeted PET\/CT in early systemic sclerosis\u2013associated interstitial lung disease: a prospective proof-of-concept study of in vivo inflammatory activity"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"53","author":[{"given":"Michael","family":"Gernert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marc","family":"Schmalzing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah","family":"Labinsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yingjun","family":"Zhi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patrick-Pascal","family":"Strunz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Fr\u00f6hlich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philipp E.","family":"Hartrampf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas K.","family":"Buck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rudolf A.","family":"Werner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5740-0537","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebastian E.","family":"Serfling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"8000_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1685","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)30933-9","volume":"390","author":"CP Denton","year":"2017","unstructured":"Denton CP, Khanna D. 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MS received compensation for advisory boards from AbbVie, Alfasigma\/Galapagos, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer\/Ingelheim, EUSA-Pharma\/Recordati, Johnson&Johnson, Novartis, onkowissen.de, Sanofi, SOBI, UCB; speaker\u2019s fees from AbbVie, Alfasigma\/Galapagos, BMS, Boehringer\/Ingelheim, EUSA-Pharma\/Recordati, Johnson&Johnson, Lilly, Merck, Novartis, onkowissen.de, Pfizer; travel grants from AbbVie, Alfasigma\/Galapagos, Boehringer\/Ingelheim, Johnson&Johnson, UCB; research funding Chugai, Novartis, AbbVie. HL travel grants, compensation for advisory boards or speaker\u2019s fees from Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Abbvie, Pfizer, Alfasigma, Boehringer\/Ingelheim, Celltrion, and UCB. YZ has no conflicts of interest to declare. PPS received research funding from Chugai, Novartis, and AbbVie as well as travel grants or speaker fees from AbbVie, Novartis, Johnson&Johnson\/Janssen, and UCB. MF has received travel grants or speaker`s fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Novartis, Eli Lilly. PEH has no conflicts of interest to declare. AKB has received speaker honoraria from Novartis\/AAA and PentixaPharm, is a board member\/officer\/trusted for PentixaPharm. RAW has received speaker honoraria from and reports advisory board work for Novartis\/AAA. SES received compensation for advisory boards from Novartis.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}]}}