PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Higuchi, Takahiro
AU  - Nekolla, Stephan G.
AU  - Huisman, Marc M.
AU  - Reder, Sybille
AU  - Poethko, Thorsten
AU  - Yu, Ming
AU  - Wester, Hans-Jurgen
AU  - Casebier, David S.
AU  - Robinson, Simon P.
AU  - Botnar, Rene M.
AU  - Schwaiger, Markus
TI  - A New <sup>18</sup>F-Labeled Myocardial PET Tracer: Myocardial Uptake After Permanent and Transient Coronary Occlusion in Rats
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.108.053967
DP  - 2008 Oct 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 1715--1722
VI  - 49
IP  - 10
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/49/10/1715.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/49/10/1715.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2008 Oct 01; 49
AB  - Conventional myocardial perfusion PET tracers require onsite tracer production because of their short radioactive half-lives. To investigate the potential of a new 18F-labeled pyridazinone analog (18F-BMS-747158-02), we characterized this tracer in a rat model of permanent and transient coronary occlusion using small-animal PET. Methods: Myocardial 18F-BMS-747158-02 distribution in healthy rats (n = 7), rats with transient (3-min) left coronary artery occlusion (n = 11), and rats with permanent left coronary occlusion (n = 11) was analyzed with a dedicated small-animal PET scanner. Results: Normal hearts demonstrated intense and almost homogeneous tracer uptake throughout the left ventricle for more than 2 h. During permanent coronary occlusion, PET demonstrated perfusion defects, which remained unchanged (37.6% ± 8.8%, 37.4% ± 10.2%, and 36.2% ± 9.8% left ventricle at 15, 45, and 115 min, respectively, after tracer injection). After transient ischemia, the induced defect size decreased significantly after reperfusion (16.2% ± 9.3%, 6.0% ± 6.5%, and 1.4% ± 1.3% left ventricle). Tracer reinjection after transient ischemia resulted in normalization of the induced defect. Conclusion: Coronary occlusion yielded distinct myocardial 18F-BMS-747158-02 uptake defects in the area of ischemia, which demonstrated normalization of activity after reperfusion and reinjection. These promising kinetic parameters may allow for assessment of flow using exercise–rest protocols similar to those used in combination with exercise and rest perfusion SPECT.