Noninvasive Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of SIRT1 in a Model of Early-Stage Alcoholic Liver Disease

Accrued evidence has indicated that epigenetic mechanisms altered by alcohol have been implicated in the progression and development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). SIRT1 plays an important role in ALD progression and has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for treating ALD. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of [11C]WL-1 for quantitative imaging of SIRT1 in mouse models of early-stage ALD. Positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) imaging was carried out 60 min following the injection of [11C]WL-1 in mouse models of early-stage ALD and normal control mice. The time–activity curves for ALD mouse livers showed remarkably decreased total uptake of [11C]WL-1 relative to that for control mouse livers. Moreover, compared with the normal control mice, decreased uptake in the cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum was also observed in early-stage ALD mice, while the uptake of [11C]WL-1 in amygdala showed no significant changes. Western blot analysis confirmed that the protein levels of SIRT1 in the brains of early-stage ALD mice were decreased significantly when compared to the normal control mouse brains. Collectively, PET imaging with [11C]WL-1 would facilitate future clinical studies, aiming to demonstrate the roles of SIRT1 in ALD.