[18F]FE-PE2I DAT correlates with Parkinson’s disease duration, stage, and rigidity/bradykinesia scores: a PET radioligand validation study

Abstract Background Correlations between dopamine transporter (DAT) availability and Parkinson’s disease (PD) motor symptoms vary depending on the imaging modality, choice of regions of interest and clinical measures. We aimed to validate the PET radioligand [18F]FE-PE2I as a clinical biomarker in PD, hypothesizing negative correlations between DAT availability in specified nigrostriatal regions with symptom duration, disease stage and motor symptom scores. Methods We included 41 PD patients (age 45–79 years; H&Y stage