title: [18F]fluoro-L-dopa for the in vivo study of intracerebral dopamine.
abstract: 6-[18F]Fluoro-L-dopa was designed to trace the dopamine metabolism in the brain with positron tomography. 6-[18F]Fluoro-L-dopa resembles natural L-dopa biochemically, it crosses the blood-brain barrier with the similar kinetics, it is decarboxylated by dopa decarboxylase and is stored intraneuronally in vesicles. In addition the rate of O-methylation of 6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa by catechol-O-methyl transferase is only 1/4 of that of natural L-dopa. The low rate of O-methylation, especially in the periphery, is particularly beneficial for PT investigations of the brain. The radiotracer has been synthesized using a variety of electrophilic fluorinating agents.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008745:Methylation; D011854:Radiochemistry; D011868:Radioisotopes; D012449:Safety; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; C043437:fluorodopa F 18; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine; D004298:Dopamine