Molecular Imaging of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Despite the success of therapeutics fighting against especially bacteria and fungi, infectious diseases still remain one of the main causes of death worldwide (WHO 2014). Besides effective medication, the early and reliable differential diagnosis of infectious diseases is of utmost importance; here noninvasive imaging can have a huge impact. The host defense against pathogens is dependent on an intact innate and adaptive immune response and effective communication between the immune cells. Dysfunction of one or more of these immune compartments leads to an open gateway for pathogens into the body of humans and animals. Infection is often accompanied with inflammation but both processes differ from each other. Inflammation is basically a nonspecific immune response which can have many reasons but does not necessarily require a microorganism in the inflamed site (Petruzzi et al. 2009). Very well-adapted pathogens have evolved strategies to act immunomodulatory to evade the immune response of the host and to finally enable their survival and transmission (Coombes and Robey 2010).