Research Progress of [68Ga]Citrate PET's Utility in Infection and Inflammation Imaging: a Review.

Imaging diagnosis of infection and inflammation has been challenging for many years. Infection imaging agents commonly used in nuclear medicine, such as [⁶⁷Ga]citrate, 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG), and radionuclide-labeled leukocytes, have their own shortcomings. Identification of a tracer with considerable economic benefit, high specificity, and low radiation dose has become clinically urgent. In the twenty-first century, with the increasing availability of positron emission tomography (PET) devices and the commercialization of Ge-68/Ga-68 generators, the study of [⁶⁸Ga]citrate applications for infection and inflammation has increased and shown good potential. In this report, the research progress that supports [⁶⁸Ga]citrate PET's applications various infectious diseases and inflammation is reviewed.