Effect of hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, ESR and blood glucose on ¹⁸F-FDG leukocyte labelling

Radiolabelled leukocytes are useful for the imaging of inflammation and infection. In the present study high specific activity ¹⁸F-FDG was used to label the leukocytes and to determine the factors affecting the labeling efficiency. The leukocyte labeling procedure was performed with high specific activity ¹⁸F-FDG in a sterile environment according the procedure described by Bhattacharya et al. The data was tabulated and analyzed using SPSS software, version 25. The study consisted of 32 patients, 20:12;F:M, mean age was 43.98 ± 16.5 yrs (range 18-76 years). The radiolabelling procedure was carried out successfully, with mean labeling efficiency 83.98 ± 15.57 %. The mean hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, ESR and blood glucose was 11.2 ± 2.2 g/dL, 5.8 ± 3.4x103 L (neutrophils = 0.69), 37.93 ± 23.0 and 105.7 ± 31.6 mg/dL, respectively. The mean initial ¹⁸F-FDG added in the leukocytes suspension was 8.80 ± 1.05 mCi (range 6.6 – 12.10 mCi).The mean injected ¹⁸F-FDG labeled leukocyte activity was 4.7 ± 1.1 mCi (range 2.19-6.9 mCi). Other parameters showed insignificant impact on the labeling efficiency. The in-house labeling of leukocytes with high specific activity ¹⁸F-FDG is safe procedure with a high labeling efficiency