6-[F18]Fluoro-L-DOPA and Cerebral Blood Flow in Unilaterally
MPTP-Treated Monkeys
Doris J. Doudet,1Richard Jed Wyatt,2Eleanor Cannon-Spoor,2Richard Suddath,2Catherine A. McLellan,1and Robert M. Cohen1
Abstract
Intravenous administration of O15-labeled
water and 6-[F18]-L-fluorodopa were used to
assess abnormal striatal activity in monkeys
after long-term recovery of unilateral lesions of
the dopaminergic nigro-striatal system induced
by the neurotoxin MPTP. PET data were
examined in relation to behavioral and
biological parameters. Cerebral blood flow and
6-[F18]-L-DOPA uptake were found to be
significantly reduced in the lesioned striatum,
compared to the unaffected side and to normal
controls. There was no correlation between
cerebral blood flow and any of the behavioral
parameters. The uptake rate constant of F18-DOPA from blood to striatum and the ratios of
striatum to occipital areas were highly
correlated to the concentrations of homovanillic
acid in the cerebrospinal fluid of the same
animals but not to the rotational behavior. This
MPTP-inducedmodei of striatal dopamine
deficiency in primates presents similarities with
idiopathic Parkinson's disease and may be used
to evaluate the effects of dopaminergic lesions
and transplants on brain function.