RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Estimation of Serotonin Transporter Parameters with 11C-DASB in Healthy Humans: Reproducibility and Comparison of Methods JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 815 OP 826 VO 47 IS 5 A1 W. Gordon Frankle A1 Mark Slifstein A1 Roger N. Gunn A1 Yiyun Huang A1 Dah-Ren Hwang A1 E. Ashlie Darr A1 Rajesh Narendran A1 Anissa Abi-Dargham A1 Marc Laruelle YR 2006 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/47/5/815.abstract AB The aim of the present study was to define the optimal analytic method to derive accurate and reliable serotonin transporter (SERT) receptor parameters with 11C-3-amino-4-(2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenylthio)benzonitrile (11C-DASB). Methods: Nine healthy subjects (5 females, 4 males) underwent two 11C-DASB PET scans on the same day. Five analytic methods were used to estimate binding parameters in 10 brain regions: compartmental modeling with 1- and 2-tissue compartment models (1TC and 2TC), data-driven estimation of parametric images based on compartmental theory (DEPICT) analysis, graphical analysis, and the simplified reference tissue model (SRTM). Two variations in the fitting procedure of the SRTM method were evaluated: nonlinear optimization and basis function approach. The test/retest variability (VAR) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC or reliability) were assessed for 3 outcome measures: distribution volume (VT), binding potential (BP), and specific to nonspecific equilibrium partition coefficient (V3″). Results: All methods gave similar values across all regions. The variability of VT was excellent (≤10%) in all regions, for the 1TC, 2TC, DEPICT, and graphical approaches. The variability of BP and V3″ was good in regions of high SERT density and poorer in regions of moderate and lower densities. The ICC of all 3 outcome measures was excellent in all regions. The basis function implementation of SRTM demonstrated improved reliability compared with nonlinear optimization, particularly in moderate and low-binding regions. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that 11C-DASB can be used to measure SERT parameters with high reliability and low variability in receptor-rich regions of the brain, with somewhat less reliability and increased variability in regions of moderate SERT density and poor reproducibility in low-density regions.