Head-to-head comparison of relative cerebral blood flow derived from dynamic [18F]florbetapir and [18F]flortaucipir PET in subjects with subjective cognitive decline

Abstract Background Dynamic PET imaging studies provide accurate estimates of specific binding, but also measure the relative tracer delivery (R1), which is a proxy for relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Recently, studies suggested that R1 obtained from different tracers could be used interchangeably and is irrespective of target tissue. However, the similarities or differences of R1 obtained from different PET tracers still require validation. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to compare R1 estimates, derived from dynamic [18F]florbetapir (amyloid) and [18F]flortaucipir (tau) PET, in the same subjects with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Results Voxel-wise analysis presented a small cluster (1.6% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]flortaucipir compared to [18F]florbetapir in the Aβ-negative group. These voxels were part of the hippocampus and the left middle occipital gyrus. In part of the thalamus, midbrain and cerebellum, voxels (2.5% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]florbetapir were observed. In the Aβ-positive group, a cluster (0.2% of the whole brain) of higher R1 values was observed in part of the hippocampus, right parahippocampal gyrus and in the left sagittal stratum for [18F]flortaucipir compared to [18F]florbetapir. Furthermore, in part of the thalamus, left amygdala, midbrain and right parahippocampal gyrus voxels (0.4% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]florbetapir were observed. Despite these differences, [18F]florbetapir R1 had high correspondence with [18F]flortaucipir R1 across all regions of interest (ROIs) and subjects (Aβ−:r 2 = 0.79, slope = 0.85, ICC = 0.76; Aβ+: r 2 = 0.87, slope = 0.93, ICC = 0.77). Conclusion [18F]flortaucipir and [18F]florbetapir showed similar R1 estimates in cortical regions. This finding, put together with previous studies, indicates that R1 could be considered a surrogate for relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the cortex and may be used interchangeably, but with caution, regardless of the choice of these two tracers.