Comparative nigrostriatal dopaminergic imaging with iodine-123-beta CIT-FP/SPECT and fluorine-18-FDOPA/PET.
SPECT imaging of the dopamine transporter is now an alternative to PET in the quantification of nigrostriatal dopaminergic function. We compared [123I] beta CIT-FP/SPECT and [18F]FDOPA/PET in the assessment of nigrostriatal dopaminergic function in Parkinson's disease (PD) and normal aging.


METHODS
We studied 12 mildly affected PD patients (mean age: 61.0 +/- 13.2 yr; H&Y Stage I-II) with both [123I] beta CIT-FP and [18F]FDOPA. Fifteen normal volunteers (mean age: 45.5 +/- 22.1 yr) served as controls for both tracers. We measured the striato-occipital ratio (SOR) for both tracers at approximately 100 min postinjection.


RESULTS
We found a highly significant correlation between SOR measures obtained for both tracers (r = 0.79, p < 0.0001). In normal volunteers a significant age-related decline in striatal uptake was noted with [123I] beta CIT-FP (r = -0.56, p < 0.04) but not with [18F]FDOPA. SOR values for both tracers discriminated PD patients from controls with comparable accuracy (F[1,25] = 52.1 and 53.0, p < 0.0001 for [123I] beta CIT-FP and [18F]FDOPA, respectively). UPDRS motor ratings correlated with SOR values obtained by both imaging techniques (r = -0.69 and -0.60, p < 0.04 for [123I] beta CIT-FP and [18F]FDOPA, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that [123I] beta CIT-FP/SPECT can provide quantitative descriptors of presynaptic dopaminergic function comparable to those obtained with [18F]FDOPA/PET.
Department of Neurology, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, New York, USA.
T
T
Ishikawa
V
V
Dhawan
K
K
Kazumata
T
T
Chaly
F
F
Mandel
J
J
Neumeyer
C
C
Margouleff
B
B
Babchyck
I
I
Zanzi
D
D
Eidelberg
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C043437:fluorodopa F 18; C069723:2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl)tropane; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine; D003042:Cocaine; D004298:Dopamine