PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jennifer M. Coughlin
AU  - Yong Du
AU  - Jeffrey L. Crawford
AU  - Leah H. Rubin
AU  - Babak Behnam Azad
AU  - Wojciech G. Lesniak
AU  - Andrew G. Horti
AU  - David J. Schretlen
AU  - Akira Sawa
AU  - Martin G. Pomper
TI  - Use of <sup>18</sup>F-ASEM PET to Determine the Availability of the α7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Recent-Onset Psychosis
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.118.213686
DP  - 2019 Feb 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 241--243
VI  - 60
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/60/2/241.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/60/2/241.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2019 Feb 01; 60
AB  - Limited postmortem evidence suggests a diminished availability of the α7 -nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7-nAChR) in the hippocampus in psychosis. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used PET with 18F-ASEM (18F-JHU82132; 3-(1,4-diazabicyclo[3.2.2]nonan-4-yl)-6-[18F]fluorodibenzo[b,d]thiophene 5,5-dioxide), a radiotracer targeting the α7-nAChR, to compare the binding of 18F-ASEM in the hippocampus of individuals who had recent-onset psychosis with that in healthy controls. Results: Individuals with recent-onset psychosis (nonaffective psychosis or affective psychosis), particularly those with nonaffective psychosis, showed lower hippocampal binding of 18F-ASEM than healthy controls. Among patients, lower binding was associated with lower performance in 2 cognitive domains after controlling for age. Conclusion: Low availability of the α7-nAChR in the hippocampus may be linked to recent-onset psychosis. Further study is needed to assess its clinical relationship to neuropsychiatric symptoms.