Abstract:
Kinetics of L-3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]fluorophenylalanine (FDOPA) in
striatum and cerebellum were measured in 10 normal human subjects with
positron emission tomography (PET) from 0 to 120 min after an
intravenous bolus injection of the tracer. The time course of the
arterial plasma concentrations of the tracer and its metabolites was
also assayed biochemically. FDOPA compartmental models that are based on
biochemical information were investigated for their consistency with the
measured striatal and cerebellar tissue kinetics. A modeling approach
was also developed for separating plasma FDOPA and metabolite
time-activity curves from the measured total 18F time-activity curve in
plasma. Results showed that a model consisting of three separate
compartments for tissue FDOPA, tissue 6-[18F]fluorodopamine (FDA) and
its metabolites, and tissue L-3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]fluoro-3-O-
methylphenylalanine (3-OMFD) could describe adequately the striatal
kinetics in humans. Based on this model, the FDOPA transport constant
across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) (K1), the FDOPA decarboxylation
rate constant (k3), and the turn-over rate constant of FDA and its
metabolites (k4) could be estimated by model fitting to the tissue
kinetics and were found for the normal subjects to be 0.031 +/- 0.006
ml/min/g (mean +/- SD), 0.041 +/- 0.015/min, and 0.004 +/- 0.002/min,
respectively. About 50% of the FDOPA that crossed the BBB from plasma to
striatum was decarboxylated. The decarboxylation constant with respect
to plasma FDOPA (K3) was 0.015 +/- 0.003 ml/min/g. The BBB transport
corresponded to a permeability-surface area product of 0.032 ml/min/g
for FDOPA. For 3-OMFD, the BBB transport was 1.7 times faster. The
effects of tissue heterogeneity on the FDOPA kinetics and on the
estimated model parameters were also investigated. The usefulness and
implications of these findings for interpretation of PET FDOPA studies
are discussed