title: Positron emission tomography study of brain benzodiazepine receptors in Friedreich's ataxia.
abstract: Central type benzodiazepine receptors were studied in 9 patients with Friedreich's ataxia and 12 healthy subjects using positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]Ro 15-1788, a specific antagonist of the central type benzodiazepine receptors, as radioligand. A standard PET procedure was used in 5 patients and 8 controls to obtain brain kinetics of the total binding of the radioligand. The remaining subjects were intravenously injected with a saturating dose of unlabeled Ro 15-1788, 30 minutes after the tracer injection, to determine the nondisplaceable binding of [11C]Ro 15-1788. A semi-quantitative method was used to quantify the [11C]Ro 15-1788 data. None of the quantification indices in the cerebellar hemispheres, or in the other brain areas investigated, was significantly modified in patients with Friedreich's ataxia. These findings suggest that brain benzodiazepine receptors are unaffected in Friedreich's ataxia.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie, Hôpital d'Orsay, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chavoix
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pappata
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prenant
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazière
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seck
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Agid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005442:Flumazenil / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005621:Friedreich Ataxia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D005442:Flumazenil