Imaging the serotonin transporter using 123I-ADAM in the human brain

Chou, Yuan-Hwa; Yang, Bang-Hung; Chung, Ming-Yi; Chen, Shih-Pei; Su, Tung-Ping; Chen, Chia-Chieh; Wang, Shyh-Jen

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.12.006

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 172, Issue 1 , Pages 38-43, 30 April 2009

Imaging the serotonin transporter using ¹²³I-ADAM in the human brain

Yuan-Hwa Chou
- Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Bang-Hung Yang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Ming-Yi Chung
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Institute of Genome Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
- ^dDepartment of Medical Research and Education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Shih-Pei Chen
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Tung-Ping Su
- Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Chia-Chieh Chen
- ^eInstitute of Nuclear Energy Research, Lung-Tan, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Shyh-Jen Wang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Corresponding author. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No 201, Sec 2, Shih-Pai Rd, 112, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 2871 1290; fax: +886 2 2871 5849.

Received 25 August 2007; received in revised form 12 November 2008; accepted 28 December 2008.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of ¹²³I-ADAM to image the serotonin transporter (SERT) in Asian (Taiwanese) subjects. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans were performed on nine healthy volunteers who were s-allele carriers at the polymorphism within the serotonin transporter promoter region (SERTPR) after intravenous bolus injection of ¹²³I-ADAM. Quantification of ¹²³I-ADAM binding was performed using the ratio equilibrium method (REM) with specific uptake ratio (SUR) and a simplified reference tissue model (SRTM). Curve-fitting techniques were used to obtain the peak equilibrium point from 241 to 301 min (average 264±20 min) after injection of ¹²³I-ADAM for the midbrain and from 215 to 270 min (average 235±18 min) after injection of ¹²³I-ADAM for the striatum. Two sets of SUR were obtained by either curve fitting (estimated values) or integrated period from 240 to 270 min (observed values). The estimated values of SUR were 2.11±0.51 for the midbrain and 1.50±0.44 for the striatum, whereas the observed values were 2.11±0.83 for the midbrain and 1.24±0.31 for the striatum. The SRTM showed that the binding potential (BP) was 2.10±0.66 for the midbrain and 1.35±0.25 for the striatum. There was a good correlation between estimated SUR, observed SUR and SRTM in the midbrain but not in the striatum. The optimal scanning duration for both the midbrain and the striatum should be 220 to 280 min similar to that suggested by previous studies in Caucasians. However, due to the low signal-to-noise ratio in the striatum, ¹²³I-ADAM could be an ideal tracer for imaging SERT in the midbrain but not in the striatum.