Modulation of [18F]fluorodopa (FDOPA) kinetics in the brain of healthy volunteers after acute haloperidol challenge.
In animal studies, acute antipsychotic treatment was shown to enhance striatal DOPA-decarboxylase (DDC) activity. However, this phenomenon has not been demonstrated in humans by positron emission tomography (PET). Therefore, we investigated acute haloperidol effects on DDC activity in humans using [18F]fluorodopa (FDOPA) PET. Nine healthy volunteers were scanned with FDOPA in drug-free baseline conditions and after 3 days of haloperidol treatment (5 mg/day). A continuous performance test (CPT) was administered in both conditions. The net blood-brain clearance of FDOPA (K(in)app) in striatum, mesencephalon, and medial prefrontal cortex was calculated by volume-of-interest analysis. The macroparameter K(in)app is a composite of several kinetic terms defining the distribution volume of FDOPA in brain (V(e)D) and the relative activity of DOPA decarboxylase (k3D). Therefore, compartmental kinetic analysis was used to identify the physiological basis of the observed changes in K(in)app period. The magnitude of K(in)app was significantly increased in the putamen (18%) and mesencephalon (36%). Furthermore, V(e)D in the brain was increased by 15%. Increments of k3(D) in the basal ganglia did not attain statistical significance. The significant worsening of CPT results did not correlate with changes in FDOPA utilization. The present PET results indicate potentiation of FDOPA utilization in human basal ganglia by acute haloperidol treatment, apparently due to increased availability throughout the brain. The stimulation of DDC cannot be excluded due to insufficient statistical power in the estimation of k3(D) changes.
Vernaleken
Ingo
I
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. ivernaleken@ukaachen.de
Kumakura
Yoshitaka
Y
Cumming
Paul
P
Buchholz
Hans-Georg
HG
Siessmeier
Thomas
T
Stoeter
Peter
P
Müller
Matthias J
MJ
Bartenstein
Peter
P
Gründer
Gerhard
G
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000187:drug effects; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects
D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; C043437:fluorodopa F 18; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine; D006220:Haloperidol