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Delayed L-Phenylalanine Infusion Allows for Simultaneous Kinetic Analysis and Improved Evaluation of Specific-to-Nonspecific fluorine-18-DOPA Uptake in Brain

Section on Clinical Brain Imaging, LCM, NIMH, IRP
Laboratory of Neuropsychology, NIMH, IRP
Neuropsychiatry Branch, NJMH, IRP, Bethesda, Maryland

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Doris J. Doudet, Section on Clinical Brain Imaging, Bldg 10/4N317, LCM, NIMH, IRP. 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20892.

ABSTRACT

The accumulation of 3-O-methyl-6-[¹⁸F]fluoro-L-DOPA (¹⁸F-30M-DOPA) in the brain from the circulation is responsible for most of the nonspecific background during ¹⁸F-DOPA positron emission tomography scanning. To increase the sensitivity of ¹⁸F-DOPA for imaging presynaptic dopamine systems, we took advantage of ¹⁸F-30M-DOPA's rapid clearance from the brain (T_1/2 15—20 min). The infusion of the unlabeled amino acid L-phenylalanine, starting 75 min after ¹⁸F-DOPA administration, prevents ¹⁸F-30M-DOPA entrance into the brain through competition at the large amino acid transport system of the blood brain barrier. This method produces high specific-to-nonspecific contrast images of ¹⁸F accumulation beginning 15–30 min after onset of amino acid infusion and better sensitivity to small changes in ¹⁸F-DOPA uptake while still allowing for kinetic analysis of the data in the early time points. Kinetic and anatomical data were found to be strongly correlated.

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