Abstract: Objective To study the application of ¹⁸F-FDG nuclide imaging of atherosclerotic plaques in apolipoprotein E-deficient mouse and the correlation between the ¹⁸F-FDG nuclide imaging and oil red staining. Methods Apolipoprotein E-deficient male mice at the age of 20 weeks were divided into experimental group and control group.Mice in experimental group were fed with Western diet containing 0.15%cholesterol and 15%fat for 44 weeks.After fasted for 10-12 hours,mice were injected with 0.56-0.71 mCi ¹⁸F-FDG into the tail vein,and sacrificed after 20min with their aortas removed and longitudinally incised.The standard uptake value（SUV）of ¹⁸F-FDG was calculated.The radioactivity was measured with a well-typeγ-counter.Aorta plaque and macrophages were investigated with oil red staining.Mice in control group were fed with common diet,and the rest were similar to those in experimental group. Results A significant difference was found in ¹⁸F-FDG uptake between the two groups（0.243±0.054 vs 0.112±0.027,P＜0.05）.The radioactivity ratio in aortas 20min after ¹⁸F-FDG injection was 5.848（±2.416）:1.The sensitivity and specificity were 60.194%and 66.67%,respectively.No radioactivity was found in control group.The ¹⁸F-FDG uptake was positively correlated with the number of macrophages（Mf）in thoracic aortic segments. Conclusion ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can be used in detecting aorta plaques and in evaluating their stability.