Summary
This article focuses on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) with radiolabelled pharmaceuticals as a quantitative tool for the measurement of neurotransmitter systems. We describe the methods of image acquisition and data analysis used to study the dopaminergic system and review the contribution of such studies to our understanding of movement disorders. PET studies of the opiate system are briefly reviewed and ongoing studies of benzodiazepine receptors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and the serotoninergic system are described.
References
Barrio JR, Melega WP, Grafton S, Perlmutter M, Nissenson C, Van Moffaert G, Hoffman J, Hawks T, Luxen A, Mazziotta JC, Huang SC, Phelps ME (1989) 4-[18F]-Fluoro-L-m-Tyrosine: a biochemical probe of striatal dopaminergic function. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 7 [Suppl 1]: 193
Blin J, Sette S, Fiorelli M, Blethry O, Elghozi JL, Crouzel C, Baron JC (1989) 18F-Setoperone: a radioligand for serotonin-S2 receptor studies using PET in the human brain. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 9:S113
Brooks DJ, Ibanez V, Sawle GV, Quinn N, Lees AJ, Mathias CJ, Bannister R, Marsden CD, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) Differing patterns of striatal 18F-dopa uptake in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy. Ann Neurol 28:547–555
Calne DB, Langston JW, Martin WRW, Stoessl AJ, Ruth TJ, Adam MJ, Pate BD, Schulzer M (1985) Positron emission tomography after MPTP: observations relating to the cause of Parkinson's disease. Nature 317:246–248
Chiueh CC, Burns RS, Kopin IJ, Kirk KL, Firnau G, Nahmias C, Chirakal R, Garnett ES (1986) 6-18F-DOPA/Positron emission tomography visualized degree of damage to brain dopamine in basal ganglia of monkeys with MPTP-induced parkinsonism. In: Markey SP, Castagnoli N, Trevor AJ, Kopin IJ (eds) MPTP: a neurotoxin producing a parkinsonian syndrome. Academic Press, Orlando, pp 327–338
Diffley DM, Costa JL, Sokoloski EA, Chiueh CC, Kirk KL. Creveling CR (1983) Direct observation of 6-fluorodopamine in guinea pig nerve microsacs by 19F NMR. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 110:740–745
Farde L, Hall H, Ehrin E, Sedvall G (1986) Quantitative analysis of dopamine D2 receptor binding in the living human brain by positron emission tomography. Science 231:258–261
Firnau G, Garnett ES, Chan PKH, Belbeck LW (1976) Intracerebral dopamine metabolism studied by a novel radioisotope technique. J Pharm Pharmacol 30:584–585
Frost JJ, Mayberg HS, Meltzer CC, Sadzot B, Goldman S, Fisher RS, Dannals RF, Lever JR, Loats H, Ravert H, Wilson AA, Wagner HN (1989) Measurement of 11C-carfentanil and 11C-diprenorphine binding to opiate receptors in temporal lobe epilepsy by PET. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 9:S60
Frost TJ, Mayberg HS, Douglass KH, Fisher R, Pearlson G, Ross C, Dannals RF, Links JM, Snyder SH, Wagner HN Jr (1987) Alteration of cerebral mu-opiate receptors in temporal lobe epilepsy and following electroconvulsive therapy. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 7 [Suppl]:421
Garnett ES, Firnau G, Chan PKH, Sood S, Belbeck CK (1978) [18F]Fluoro-dopa, an analogue of dopa and its use in direct external measurements of storage, degradation and turnover of intracerebral dopamine. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 75:464–467
Garnett S, Firnau G, Nahmias C, Chirakal R (1983) Striatal dopamine metabolism in living monkeys examined by positron emission tomography. Brain Res 280:169–171
Gibb WRG, Luthert PJ, Marsden CD (1989) Corticobasal degeneration. Brain 112:1171–1192
Gordin A, Järvinen M, Kaakkola S, Wikberg T, Pohto P (1990) Effect of nitecapone, a novel COMT inhibitor, on the metabolism of L-dopa after single and multiple dosing. Neurology 40 [Suppl 1]:271
Guttman M, Burns RS, Martin WRW, Peppard RF, Adam MJ, Ruth TJ, Allen G, Parker RA, Tulipan NB, Calne DB (1989) PET studies of parkinsonian patients treated with autologous adrenal implants. Can J Neurol Sci 16:305–309
Hägglund J, Aquilonius SM, Eckernäs SÅ, Hartvig P, Lundqvist H, Gullberg P, Långstrom B (1987) Dopamine receptor properties in Parkinson's disease and Huntington's chorea evaluated by positron emission tomography using C-11 N-methyl-spiperone. Acta Neurol Scand 75:87
Hume S, Myers R, Manjil L, Dolan R (1989) Sertraline and paroxetine fail tests in vivo as 5-HT reuptake site ligands for PET. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 7 [Suppl 1]:117
Ibañez V, Sawle GV, Brooks DJ, Cunningham V, Quinn N, Lees AJ, Marsden CD, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) The integrity of striatal D2 sites in Parkinson's disease, striatonigral degeneration and Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome studied with 11C-Raclopride and PET. Neurology 40[Suppl 1]:443
Junck L, Jewett DM, Kilbourn MR, Young AB, Kuhl DE (1990) PET imaging of cerebral infarcts using a ligand for the peripheral benzodiazepine site. Neurology 40 [Suppl 1]: 265
Köhler C, Hall H, Ögren S-O, Gawell L (1985) Specific in vitro and in vivo binding of 3H-raclopride. A potent substituted benzamide drug with high affinity for dopamine D2 receptors in the rat brain. Brochem Pharmacol 34:2251–2259
Leenders KL, Frackowiak RSJ, Quinn N, Marsden CD (1986) Brain energy metabolism and dopaminergic function in Huntington's disease measured in vivo using positron emission tomography. Mov Disord 1:69–77
Leenders KL, Palmer AJ, Quinn N, Clark JC, Firnau G, Garnett ES, Nahmias C, Jones T, Marsden CD (1986) Brain dopamine metabolism in patients with Parkinson's disease measured with positron emission tomography. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 49:853–860
Leenders KL, Salmon EP, Tyrrell PJ, Perani D, Brooks DJ, Sagar H, Jones T, Marsden CD, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) The nigrostriatal dopaminergic system assessed in vivo by positron emission tomography in healthy volunteers and patients with Parkinson's disease. Arch Neurol (in press)
Lindvall O, Brundin P, Widner H, Rehncrona S, Gustavi B, Frackowiak RSJ, Leenders KL, Sawle GV, Rothwell JC, Marsden CD, Björklund A (1990) Intrastriatal grafts of fetal dopamine neurons survive and improve motor function in Parkinson's disease. Science 247:574–577
Martin WRW, Palmer MR, Patlak CS, Calne DB (1989) Nigrostriatal function in humans studied with positron emission tomography. Ann Neurol 26:535–524
Mintum MA, Raichle ME, Kilbourn MR, Wooten GF, Welch MJ (1984) A quantitative model for the in vivo assessment of drug binding sites with positron emission tomography. Ann Neurol 15:217–227
Nahmias C, Garnett ES, Firnau G, Lang A (1985) Striatal dopamine distribution in Parkinsonian patients during life. J Neurol Sci 69:223–230
Patlak CS, Blasberg RG (1985) Graphical evaluation of blood-to-brain transfer constants from multiple-time uptake data. Generalizations. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 5:584–590
Patlak CS, Blasberg RG, Fenstermacher JD (1983) Graphical evaluation of blood-to-brain transfer constants from multiple-time uptake date. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 3:1–7
Quinn N (1989) Multiple system atrophy — the nature of the beast. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry [Suppl] 78–89
Rinne UK, Laihinen A, Rinne JO, Någren K, Bergman J, Ruotsalainen U (1990) Positron emission tomography demonstrates dopamine D2 receptor supersensitivity in the striatum of patients with early Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 5:55–59
Roland PE, Stone-Elander S, Seitz RJ, Blomqvist G, Schwenner E, Kraft H, Halldin C, Litton J-E (1989) 11C-Nimodipine kinetics and binding studied in vivo in man with PET. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 9 [Suppl 1]:124
Salmon E, Brooks DJ, Leenders KL, Turton DR, Hume SP, Cremer JE, Jones T, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) A two-compartment description and kinetic procedure for measuring regional cerebral [11C]nomifensine uptake using positron emission tomography. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 10:307–316
Savic I, Roland P, Persson A, Wíden L (1989) Studies of benzodiazepine receptor binding in patients with partial and generalized epilepsy. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 9:S230
Sawle GV, Brooks DJ, Ibañez V, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) Striatal D2 receptor density is inversely proportional to dopa uptake in untreated hemi-Parkinson's disease: a positron emission tomography study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 53:177
Sawle GV, Brooks DJ, Marsden CD, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) Corticobasal degeneration: a unique pattern of regional cortical oxygen metabolism and striatal fluorodopa uptake demonstrated by positron emission tomography. Brain (in press)
Sawle GV, Colebatch JG, Shah A, Brooks DJ, Marsden CD, Frackowiak RSJ (1990) Striatal function in normal aging: implications for Parkinson's disease. Ann Neurol (in press)
Tedroff J, Aquilonius S-M, Laihinen A, Rinne U, Hartvig P, Andersson J, Lundqvist H, Haarparanta M, Solin O, Antoni G, Gee AD, Ulin J, Långstrom B (1990) Striatal kinetics of [11C]-(+)-nomifensine and 6-[18F]fluoro-l-dopa in Parkinson's disease measured with positron emission tomography. Acta Neurol Scand 81:24–30
Theodore WH, Blasberg R, Leiderman D, Carson R, Cohen R, Rice K, Newman A, Dunn B, Simpson N, Herscovitch P (1990) PET imaging of opiate receptor binding in human epilepsy using 18-F cyclofoxy. Neurology 40 [Suppl 1]:257
Wagner HN Jr, Burns HD, Dannals RF, Wong DF, Langstrom B, Duelfer T, Frost JJ, Ravert HT, Links JM, Rosenbloom SB, Lukas SE, Kramer AV, Kuhar MJ (1983) Imaging dopamine receptors in the human brain by positron emission tomography Science 221:1264–1266
Wong DF, Links JM, Wagner HN Jr, Folstein SE, Suneja S, Dannals RF, Ravert HT, Wilson AA, Tune LE, Pearlson G, Folstein MF, Bice A, Kuhar MJ (1985) Dopamine and serotonin receptors measured in vivo in Huntington's disease with 11-C N-methylspiperone PET imaging. J Nucl Med 26:107
Wong DF, Wagner HN Jr, Dannals RF, Links JM, Frost JJ, Ravert HT, Wilson AA, Rosenbaum AE, Gjedde A, Douglass KH, Petronis JD, Folstein MF, Toung JKT, Burns D, Kuhar MJ (1984) Effects of age on dopamine and serotonin receptors measured by positron emission tomography in the living human brain. Science 226:1393–1396
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sawle, G.V., Brooks, D.J. Positron emission tomography studies of neurotransmitter systems. J Neurol 237, 451–456 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314760
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314760