Regional, kinetic [(18)F]FDG PET imaging of a unilateral Parkinsonian animal model.

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the glucose analog 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ([(18)F] FDG) has demonstrated clinical utility for the monitoring of brain glucose metabolism alteration in progressive neurodegenerative diseases. We examined dynamic [(18)F]FDG PET imaging and kinetic modeling of atlas-based regions to evaluate regional changes in the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose in the widely-used 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model of Parkinson's disease. Following a bolus injection of 18.5 ± 1 MBq [(18)F]FDG and a 60-minute PET scan, image-derived input functions from the vena cava and left ventricle were used with three models, including Patlak graphical analysis, to estimate the influx constant and the metabolic rate in ten brain regions. We observed statistically significant changes in [(18)F]FDG uptake ipsilateral to the 6-OHDA injection in the basal ganglia, olfactory bulb, and amygdala regions; and these changes are of biological relevance to the disease. These experiments provide further validation for the use of [(18)F]FDG PET imaging in this model for drug discovery and development.