EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (Aug 2019)

Improved synthesis of [18F] fallypride and characterization of a Huntington’s disease mouse model, zQ175DN KI, using longitudinal PET imaging of D2/D3 receptors

  • Tuulia Huhtala,
  • Pekka Poutiainen,
  • Jussi Rytkönen,
  • Kimmo Lehtimäki,
  • Teija Parkkari,
  • Iiris Kasanen,
  • Anu J. Airaksinen,
  • Teija Koivula,
  • Patrick Sweeney,
  • Outi Kontkanen,
  • John Wityak,
  • Celia Dominiquez,
  • Larry C. Park

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-019-0071-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Purpose Dopamine receptors are involved in pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric diseases, including Huntington’s disease (HD). PET imaging of dopamine D2 receptors (D2R) in HD patients has demonstrated 40% decrease in D2R binding in striatum, and D2R could be a reliable quantitative target to monitor disease progression. A D2/3R antagonist, [18F] fallypride, is a high-affinity radioligand that has been clinically used to study receptor density and occupancy in neuropsychiatric disorders. Here we report an improved synthesis method for [18F]fallypride. In addition, high molar activity of the ligand has allowed us to apply PET imaging to characterize D2/D3 receptor density in striatum of the recently developed zQ175DN knock-in (KI) mouse model of HD. Methods We longitudinally characterized in vivo [18F] fallypride -PET imaging of D2/D3 receptor densities in striatum of 9 and 12 month old wild type (WT) and heterozygous (HET) zQ175DN KI mouse. Furthermore, we verified the D2/D3 receptor density in striatum with [3H] fallypride autoradiography at 12 months of age. Results We implemented an improved synthesis method for [18F] fallypride to yield high molar activity (MA, 298–360 GBq/μmol) and good reproducibility. In the HET zQ175DN KI mice, we observed a significant longitudinal decrease in binding potential (BPND) (30.2%, p 100 GBq/μmol at the time of injection. Furthermore, the decrease of D2/D3 receptor density in striatum in HET zQ175DN KI was consistent using [3H] fallypride autoradiography. Conclusions We observed a significant decrease in D2/D3R receptor densities in the striatum of HET zQ175DN KI mice compared to WT mice at 9 and 12 months of age. These results are in line with clinical findings in HD patients, suggesting [18F] fallypride PET imaging has potential as a quantitative translational approach to monitor disease progression in preclinical studies.

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