Changes of “brain-GI” interplay in Parkinson’s disease: a pilot study
of dynamic total-body [11C]CFT PET/CT and kinetic modeling
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 (all P < 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.