title: Availability of dopamine transporters in heroin-dependent subjects: A18F-FECNT PET imaging study.
abstract: This study was to reconfirm the reduced dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in heroin-dependent subjects and validate the use of 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-fluoroethyl)-nortropane (18F-FECNT) as a PET radiotracer to assess the changes of striatal DAT in drug addicted subjects. Herein, we assessed DAT standardized uptake values (SUV) of18F-FECNT in the striatum and cerebellum of 20 heroin-dependent subjects and 10 healthy controls and analyzed the correlation between DAT availability and heroin withdrawal symptom scores and anxiety/depression rating scales in heroin-dependent subjects, as well as the relationship between the withdrawal symptoms scores and age. The striatal DAT availability in heroin-dependent subjects was significantly lower (by ~15.7-17.6%) than that in healthy controls. Age was positively related to heroin withdrawal symptom scores. The withdrawal symptom scores in older patients (Age: 49.5±2.5) were significantly higher (by ~20%) than those in younger patients (Age: 30.9±4.8). These results confirm that chronic heroin use induces striatal DAT reduction, suggesting that18F-FECNT could be used as an alternative PET imaging radioligand for in vivo imaging of DAT in drug addicted subjects. Moreover, older patients might suffer more severe withdrawal symptoms than younger patients, suggesting that older patients with heroin withdrawal could be given more medication.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Drug Rehabilitation Center, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yangping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Rongbin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuankai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhirui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Daxu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Beijing LADO Technology Company, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: hanmei@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: xingdliu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Xingdang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D009662:Nortropanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: C410211:2-carbomethoxy-3-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-fluoroethyl)nortropane; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D009662:Nortropanes; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human
keywords: (18)F-FECNT; Dopamine transporter; Heroin dependence