Bioenergetic Profiles Diverge During Macrophage Polarization: Implications for the Interpretation of ¹⁸F-FDG PET Imaging of Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Polarization of macrophages induces distinct metabolic profiles with respect to glycolysis versus oxidative phosphorylation, with alternatively polarized macrophages shifting to mitochondria as their main source of adenosine triphosphate. Only M(LPS), but not M1 or M2 polarized macrophages, showed increased glucose uptake, suggesting that glucose metabolism is regulated independent of the polarization state and macrophage polarization may not be detectable by (18)F-FDG PET.