Comparison of [18F]FDOPA, [18F]FMT and [18F]FECNT for imaging dopaminergic neurotransmission in mice

Honer, Michael; Hengerer, Bastian; Blagoev, Milen; Hintermann, Samuel; Waldmeier, Peter; Schubiger, Pius A.; Ametamey, Simon M.

doi:10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2006.04.005

« Previous Next »Nuclear Medicine and Biology
Volume 33, Issue 5 , Pages 607-614, July 2006

Comparison of [¹⁸F]FDOPA, [¹⁸F]FMT and [¹⁸F]FECNT for imaging dopaminergic neurotransmission in mice

Michael Honer
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science of ETH, PSI and USZ, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author. Animal Imaging Center–PET, Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences of ETH, PSI and USZ, ETH Hoenggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 44 633 6084; fax: +41 44 633 1367.
Bastian Hengerer
- Boehringer Ingelheim CNS Research II, D-88397 Biberach, Germany
Milen Blagoev
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science of ETH, PSI and USZ, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Samuel Hintermann
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
Peter Waldmeier
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
Pius A. Schubiger
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science of ETH, PSI and USZ, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Simon M. Ametamey
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science of ETH, PSI and USZ, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

Received 19 October 2005; received in revised form 3 April 2006; accepted 11 April 2006. published online 15 June 2006.

Abstract

Introduction

The clinically established positron emission tomography (PET) tracers 6-[¹⁸F]-fluoro-l-DOPA ([¹⁸F]FDOPA), 6-[¹⁸F]-fluoro-l-m-tyrosine ([¹⁸F]FMT) and 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-[¹⁸F]-fluoroethyl)-nortropane ([¹⁸F]FECNT) serve as markers of presynaptic integrity of dopaminergic nerve terminals in humans. This study describes our efforts to adopt the methodology of human Parkinson's disease (PD) PET studies to mice.

Methods

The PET imaging characteristics of [¹⁸F]FDOPA, [¹⁸F]FMT and [¹⁸F]FECNT were analyzed in healthy C57BL/6 mice using the dedicated small-animal PET tomograph quad-HIDAC. Furthermore, [¹⁸F]FECNT was tested in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of PD.

Results

[¹⁸F]FDOPA and [¹⁸F]FMT failed to clearly visualize the mouse striatum, whereas PET experiments using [¹⁸F]FECNT proved that the employed methodology is capable of delineating the striatum in mice with exquisite resolution. Moreover, [¹⁸F]FECNT PET imaging of healthy and MPTP-lesioned mice demonstrated that the detection and quantification of striatal degeneration in lesioned mice can be accomplished.

Conclusions

This study shows the feasibility of using [¹⁸F]FECNT PET to analyze noninvasively the striatal degeneration in the MPTP mouse model of PD. This methodology can be therefore considered as a viable complement to established in vivo microdialysis and postmortem techniques.

Keywords: Quad-HIDAC, Small-animal PET imaging, [¹⁸F]FDOPA, [¹⁸F]FMT, [¹⁸F]FECNT, MPTP