Synthesis of O-[11C]Acetyl CoA, O-[11C]Acetyl-L-carnitine, and L-[11C]carnitine labelled in specific positions, applied in PET studies on rhesus monkey

The syntheses of L-carnitine, O-acetyl CoA, and O-acetyl-L-carnitine labelled with 11C at the 1- or 2-position of the acetyl group or the N-methyl position of carnitine, using the enzymes acetyl CoA synthetase and carnitine acetyltransferase, are described. With a total synthesis time of 45 min, O-[1-11C]acetyl CoA and O-[2[11C]acetyl CoA was obtained in 60-70% decay-corrected radiochemical yield, and O-[1-11C]acetyl-L-carnitine and O-[2-11C] acetyl-L-carnitine in 70-80% yield, based on [1-11C]acetate or [2-11C]acetate, respectively. By an N-methylation reaction with [11C]methyl iodide, L-[methyl-11C]carnitine was obtained within 30 min, and O-acetyl-L-[methyl-11C]carnitine within 40 min, giving a decay-corrected radiochemical yield of 60% and 40-50%, respectively, based on [11C]methyl iodide. Initial data of the kinetics of the different 11C-labelled L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitines in renal cortex of anaesthetized monkey (Macaca mulatta) are presented.

Supercritical fluid extraction of 11C-labeled metabolites in tissue using supercritical ammonia

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of 11C-labeled tracer compounds and their metabolites from biological tissue was performed using supercritical ammonia in an attempt to develop a rapid extraction procedure that allowed subsequent analysis of the labeled metabolites. Metabolites were extracted from kidneys and brain in rats given in vivo injections of the radiotracers O-[2-11C]acetyl-L-carnitine and N-[11C]methylpiperidyl benzilate, respectively. Only a minimal sample pretreatment of the tissue was necessary, i.e., cutting into 10-20 pieces and mixing with the drying agent Hydromatrix, before it was loaded into the extraction vessel. Extraction efficiency was measured for SFE at temperatures over the range of 70-150 degrees C and a pressure of 400 bar. For O-[2-11C]acetyl-L-carnitine, 66% of the radioactivity was trapped in the collected fractions and 12% remained in the extraction vessel. For the more lipophilic N-[11C]methylpiperidyl benzilate, 93% of the activity was collected and less than 1% remained in the extraction vessel. Labeled metabolites were analyzed by LC and also, in the case, of O-[2-11C]acetyl-L-carnitine by LC/MS. The complete extraction procedure, from removal of the biological tissue until an extract was ready for analysis, was 25 min, corresponding to about one half-life of the radionuclide 11C.

PET and parathyroid L-[carbon-11]methionine accumulation in hyperparathyroidism

The study was designed to characterize L-[methyl-11 C]methionine accumulation in abnormal parathyroid tissues of hyperparathyroidism (HPT).

METHODS

Thirty-four patients with primary (n = 32) or secondary HPT were investigated with PET before primary or reoperative (n = 25) parathyroid surgery. Parathyroid 11C-methionine accumulation was analyzed for integrated uptake values in defined tissue volumes standardized for the injected dose and body weight (SUV), four contiguous pixels of maximal accumulation (SUVhs), SUV multiplied by area of region of interest (SUVr) and by the excised tissue weight (SUVw). Transport rate constants (slope, slopehs) were calculated according to Patlak's formula using plasma 11C activity corrected for 11C-methionine metabolites.

RESULTS

True-positive localization was achieved in 85% of patients in whom 81% of the excised parathyroid lesions were visualized; no false-positive results were obtained. Corresponding proportions were 59% and 57% for CT and 55% and 52% for ultrasound, respectively. In the true-positive cases, parathyroid SUV, SUVhs and transport rate constants were consistently higher (p < 0.01) than in the thyroid, pharynx-esophagus, neck muscle and apical lung. Parathyroid SUV, SUVhs and SUVr increased with intact serum parathyroid hormone and calcium values (p = 0.0001-0.031), and weight of the excised tissue correlated with SUV and SUVhs (p = 0.024, 0.044). Parathyroid SUVhs varied strongly with the transport rate constants (p = 0.0008), and SUVr as well as s-calcium values differed significantly between parathyroid adenomas (n = 11), chief cell hyperplasias (n = 13), inadvertent implants (n = 3) and parathyroid cancers (n = 3).

CONCLUSION

Carbon-11-methionine PET has potential application in preoperative localization and metabolic characterization of abnormal parathyroid tissues in human HPT.

In vitro positron emission tomography (PET): use of positron emission tracers in functional imaging in living brain slices

Positron-emitting radionuclides have short half-lives and high radiation energies compared with radioisotopes generally used in biomedical research. We examined the possibility of applying positron emitter-labeled compounds to functional imaging in brain slices kept viable in an oxygenated buffer solution. Brain slices (300 microns thick) containing the striatum were incubated with positron emitter-labeled tracers for 30-45 min. The slices were then rinsed and placed on the bottom of a Plexiglas chamber filled with oxygenated Krebs-Ringer solution. The bottom of the chamber consisted of a thin polypropylene film to allow good penetration of beta+ particles from the brain slices. The chamber was placed on a storage phosphor screen, which has a higher sensitivity and a wider dynamic range than X-ray films. After an exposure period of 15-60 min, the screen was scanned by the analyzer and radioactivity images of brain slices were obtained within 20 min. We succeeded in obtaining quantitative images of (1) [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose uptake, (2) dopamine D2 receptor binding, (3) dopa-decarboxylase activity, and (4) release of [11C]dopamine preloaded as L-[11C]DOPA in the brain slice preparation. These results demonstrate that positron emitter-labeled tracers in combination with storage phosphor screens are useful for functional imaging of living brain slices as a novel neuroscience technique.