TY - JOUR T1 - Biodistribution and Radiation Dosimetry of <sup>11</sup>C-Nicotine from Whole-Body PET Imaging in Humans JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 473 LP - 478 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.116.180059 VL - 58 IS - 3 AU - Pradeep K. Garg AU - Stephen J. Lokitz AU - Rachid Nazih AU - Sudha Garg Y1 - 2017/03/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/58/3/473.abstract N2 - This study assessed the in vivo distribution of 11C-nicotine and the absorbed radiation dose from whole-body 11C-nicotine PET imaging of 11 healthy (5 male and 6 female) subjects. Methods: After an initial CT attenuation scan, 11C-nicotine was administered via intravenous injection. A dynamic PET scan was acquired for 90 s with the brain in the field of view, followed by a series of 13 whole-body PET scans acquired over a 90-min period. Regions of interest were drawn over organs visible in the reconstructed PET images. Time–activity curves were generated, and the residence times were calculated. The absorbed radiation dose for the whole body was calculated by entering the residence time in OLINDA/EXM 1.0 software to model the equivalent organ dose and the effective dose for a 70-kg man. Results: The mean residence times for 11C-nicotine in the liver, red marrow, brain, and lungs were 0.048 ± 0.010, 0.031 ± 0.005, 0.021 ± 0.004, and 0.020 ± 0.005 h, respectively. The mean effective dose for 11C-nicotine was 5.44 ± 0.67 μSv/MBq. The organs receiving the highest absorbed dose from the 11C-nicotine injection were the urinary bladder wall (14.68 ± 8.70 μSv/MBq), kidneys (9.56 ± 2.46 μSv/MBq), liver (8.94 ± 1.67 μSv/MBq), and spleen (9.49 ± 3.89 μSv/MBq). The renal and hepatobiliary systems were the major clearance and excretion routes for radioactivity. Conclusion: The estimated radiation dose from 11C-nicotine administration is relatively modest and would allow for multiple PET examinations on the same subject. ER -