Long-term test-retest reliability of striatal and extrastriatal dopamine D2/3 receptor binding: study with [(11)C]raclopride and high-resolution PET

J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2015 Jul;35(7):1199-205. doi: 10.1038/jcbfm.2015.53. Epub 2015 Apr 8.

Abstract

We measured the long-term test-retest reliability of [(11)C]raclopride binding in striatal subregions, the thalamus and the cortex using the bolus-plus-infusion method and a high-resolution positron emission scanner. Seven healthy male volunteers underwent two positron emission tomography (PET) [(11)C]raclopride assessments, with a 5-week retest interval. D2/3 receptor availability was quantified as binding potential using the simplified reference tissue model. Absolute variability (VAR) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values indicated very good reproducibility for the striatum and were 4.5%/0.82, 3.9%/0.83, and 3.9%/0.82, for the caudate nucleus, putamen, and ventral striatum, respectively. Thalamic reliability was also very good, with VAR of 3.7% and ICC of 0.92. Test-retest data for cortical areas showed good to moderate reproducibility (6.1% to 13.1%). Our results are in line with previous test-retest studies of [(11)C]raclopride binding in the striatum. A novel finding is the relatively low variability of [(11)C]raclopride binding, providing suggestive evidence that extrastriatal D2/3 binding can be studied in vivo with [(11)C]raclopride PET to be verified in future studies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Carbon Radioisotopes / metabolism
  • Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism*
  • Corpus Striatum / diagnostic imaging
  • Corpus Striatum / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Positron-Emission Tomography* / methods
  • Raclopride / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Dopamine D2 / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Dopamine D3 / metabolism*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Thalamus / diagnostic imaging
  • Thalamus / metabolism*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Carbon Radioisotopes
  • Receptors, Dopamine D2
  • Receptors, Dopamine D3
  • Raclopride