Human positron emission tomographic [18F]Fluorodopa studies correlate with dopamine cell counts and levels

Postmortem counts of dopaminergic cell densities in the substantia nigra (5 subjects) and striatal levels of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites (6 subjects) were determined on 1 parkinsonian (PD), 3 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 1 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and 1 Alzheimer's case who had been positron emission tomography scanned with 6‐[18F]fluorodopa during life. [18F]Fluorodopa uptake rate constants, which presumably depend on the number of functioning striatal DA terminals, were strictly proportional to cell densities (significant correlation with zero intercept) and also correlated significantly with striatal DA levels but with an intercept indicating greater losses of DA than of terminals in PSP and PD. Postmortem data on 6 PD, 1 PSP, and 9 neuronally normal controls substantiated the significant correlation between cell counts and DA levels, with the latter being the more depressed in pathological cases.

[1]  H. Kimura,et al.  Quantitative morphometric analysis of two types of serotonin-immunoreactive nerve fibres differentially responding to p-chlorophenylalanine treatment in the rat brain , 1988, Neuroscience.

[2]  K. Jellinger,et al.  Brain dopamine and the syndromes of Parkinson and Huntington. Clinical, morphological and neurochemical correlations. , 1973, Journal of the neurological sciences.

[3]  M. Bergstrom,et al.  Positron emission tomography in Parkinson's disease: glucose and DOPA metabolism. , 1987, Advances in neurology.

[4]  H. Fibiger,et al.  Effects of Transient Forebrain Ischemia and Pargyline on Extracellular Concentrations of Dopamine, Serotonin, and Their Metabolites in the Rat Striatum as Determined by In Vivo Microdialysis , 1990, Journal of neurochemistry.

[5]  H. Kimura,et al.  Loss of basic fibroblast growth factor in substantia nigra neurons in Parkinson's disease , 1993, Neurology.

[6]  C. Nahmias,et al.  Dopamine visualized in the basal ganglia of living man , 1983, Nature.

[7]  A J Lees,et al.  Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome. Brain energy metabolism, blood flow and fluorodopa uptake measured by positron emission tomography. , 1988, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[8]  P. Mcgeer,et al.  Relative sparing in Parkinson's disease of substantia nigra dopamine neurons containing calbindin-D28K , 1990, Brain Research.

[9]  T Jones,et al.  The nigrostriatal dopaminergic system assessed in vivo by positron emission tomography in healthy volunteer subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease. , 1990, Archives of neurology.

[10]  C Nahmias,et al.  Cerebral Metabolism of 6–[18F]Fluoro‐l‐3,4‐Dihydroxyphenylalanine in the Primate , 1987, Journal of neurochemistry.

[11]  J R Moeller,et al.  The metabolic anatomy of Parkinson's disease: Complementary [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose and [18F]fluorodopa positron emission tomographic studies , 1990, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[12]  B. Snow.  Positron Emission Tomography in Parkinson’s Disease , 1992, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques.

[13]  C. Patlak,et al.  Nigrostriatal function in humans studied with positron emission tomography , 1989, Annals of neurology.

[14]  E. Hoffman,et al.  Quantitation in Positron Emission Computed Tomography: 1. Effect of Object Size , 1979, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[15]  M. Häusser,et al.  Kinetics of in vitro decarboxylation and the in vivo metabolism of 2-18F- and 6-18F-fluorodopa in the hooded rat. , 1988, Biochemical pharmacology.

[16]  J. O’Kusky,et al.  Methylmercury-induced movement and postural disorders in developing rat: regional analysis of brain catecholamines and indoleamines , 1988, Brain Research.

[17]  B. Snow,et al.  Positron emission tomography in progressive supranuclear palsy. , 1991, Archives of neurology.

[18]  J C Mazziotta,et al.  6‐[18F]Fluoro‐L‐DOPA probes dopamine turnover rates in central dopaminergic structures , 1990, Journal of neuroscience research.