Figure 4.

2-[¹⁸F]F-PABA PET correlates with the therapeutic efficacy of antibacterial agents. To evaluate if the signal of 2-[¹⁸F]F-PABA correlated with bacterial burden, rats were infected with MSSA in the right triceps (yellow arrows) and MRSA in the left triceps (red arrows). (a) Representative three-dimensional projection, coronal and sagittal views of the 2-[¹⁸F]F-PABA PET/CT 60 min postinjection of tracer in the untreated group of rats infected with both MSSA and MRSA. The PET signal in both infection sites was similar. (b) 2-[¹⁸F]F-PABA PET/CT of a representative oxacillin-treated (200 mg/kg, four doses subcutaneously) rat infected with MSSA and MRSA as described above. The images are a three-dimensional projection, coronal and sagittal views of the PET 60–80 min post-tracer injection, where the signal in the MSSA infection site was lower compared to the MRSA infection (c) 2-[¹⁸F]F-PABA PET was able to differentiate between treated and untreated groups in the MSSA infection site (*P = 0.008) but not between treated and untreated MRSA infections (P = 0.841). P values calculated using a two-tailed Mann–Whitney U Test (n = 4). NS, not significant.