Figure 4.

Mannan is most probably transported by cells via the blood circulatory system. Following intraperitoneal injection of fluorine‐18 ([¹⁸F])fluoromannan, mice were subjected to positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) imaging. The images show transportation of the radiolabelled polysaccharide through the heart (a). The number of mice showing a mannan signal in the heart/total number of mice is shown in round brackets. This is also visual ex vivo 6 h post‐mannan injection (b); n = 2. Three treatment groups were utilized. All mice received 2 μg of [¹⁸F]fluoromannan. One group received [¹⁸F]fluoromannan alone (group 1, white circle/box), one group received [¹⁸F]fluoromannan plus 10 mg of mannan (group 3, black circle/grey box), one group received 2 mg mannan with (group 4, black square/box) or without (group 2, open square) pretreatment, 5 days prior, with an anti‐collagen type II (aCII) antibody. The number of mice expressing a signal/total amount of mice per group is shown in brackets. All mice (except the control mice receiving 2 μg of [¹⁸F]fluoromannan) were perfused with phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) before ex vivo measurements. aCII ab, anti‐collagen type II antibodies; SUV, standardised uptake value. Values are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (s.e.m.).