TY - JOUR T1 - In Vivo Measurement of Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Type 2 Density in Parkinson Disease with <sup>18</sup>F-AV-133 JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 223 LP - 228 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.109.070094 VL - 51 IS - 2 AU - Nobuyuki Okamura AU - Victor L. Villemagne AU - John Drago AU - Svetlana Pejoska AU - Rajinder K. Dhamija AU - Rachel S. Mulligan AU - Julia R. Ellis AU - Uwe Ackermann AU - Graeme O'Keefe AU - Gareth Jones AU - Hank F. Kung AU - Michael J. Pontecorvo AU - Daniel Skovronsky AU - Christopher C. Rowe Y1 - 2010/02/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/2/223.abstract N2 - PET provides a noninvasive means to evaluate the functional integrity of the presynaptic monoaminergic system in the living human brain. Methods: In this study, a novel 18F-labeled tetrabenazine derivative, 18F-(+)fluoropropyldihydrotetrabenazine (18F-AV-133), was used for the noninvasive assessment of the vesicular monoamine transporters type 2 (VMAT2) in 17 Parkinson disease (PD) patients and 6 healthy controls. The binding potential (BP) of 18F-AV-133 was calculated using Logan graphical analysis. Voxel-based and volume-of-interest–based analyses of BP images were performed to examine brain regional reductions in VMAT2 density in PD. Results: VMAT2 BP was decreased by 81% in the posterior putamen, 70% in the anterior putamen, and 48% in the caudate nucleus of PD patients. Voxel-based analysis demonstrated VMAT2 reductions in the striatum and mid brain of PD patients. Furthermore, VMAT2 BPs in the caudate nuclei significantly correlated with the clinical severity of PD. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the novel 18F-labeled ligand 18F-AV-133 can sensitively detect monoaminergic terminal reductions in PD patients. Studies with 18F-AV-133 may allow the presymptomatic identification of individuals with disorders characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic nigrostriatal afferents. ER -