Abstract
Purpose: Parkinson’s
disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive
loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. To achieve better
explorations of dopamine changes both centrally and peripherally, we
employed uEXPLORER dynamic [11C]CFT PET/CT imaging
combined with voxel-wise kinetic modeling.
Methods: Eleven participants (five patients, PD and six healthy
volunteers, HC) underwent 75-min dynamic scans were enrolled. Volumes of
interest for four nigrostriatal nuclei (caudate, putamen, pallidum and
substantial nigra) and three digestive organs (pancreas, stomach and
duodenum) were delineated. Total-body parametric images of relative
transporter rate constant (R1) and distribution volume
ratio (DVR) using the simplified reference tissue model (SRTM2) were
quantitatively generated by a linear regression with spatial-constraint
algorithm. Standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) at early and late
phase were calculated as the semi-quantitative substitutes.
Results: Significant differences between the two groups were
identified in DVR and SUVRLP of putamen (P< 0.05) and SUVREP of stomach (P< 0.01). For HC group, negative correlations of
R1 were achieved between stomach and both putamen and
substantial nigra (all P < 0.05); positive correlations
of DVR were identified between pancreas and all four brain nuclei (allP < 0.05). Yet in PD group, correlations of
R1 or DVR between the targeted digestive and brain areas
were considerably diminished. Similar trends in correlations were also
found in SUVR analysis.
Conclusions: We introduced a pioneering approach using dynamic
total-body [11C]CFT PET/CT imaging to investigate
distinctive patterns of potential “brain-GI” interplays, which may
provide new insights towards the understanding of PD.
Key words: Total-body PET/CT; Parkinson’s disease; “Brain-GI”
interplay; [11C]CFT; Parametric imaging