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Dopamine transporter loss and clinical changes in MPTP-lesioned primates
J L Eberling1, K S Bankiewicz, P Pivirotto
1Center for Functional Imaging, 55-121, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. jleberling@lbl.gov
Abstract:
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and the dopamine (DA) transporter tracer, 2 beta-carboxymethoxy-3 beta-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ([123I]beta-CIT), were used to determine DA transporter density in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-lesioned monkeys with varying degrees of parkinsonism. The clinical stage of parkinsonism corresponded to SPECT measures of striatal DA transporter density suggesting that more severe parkinsonism was associated with a greater degree of dopaminergic terminal degeneration. These findings are similar to those reported earlier using positron emission tomography (PET) and the DA metabolism tracer, 6-[18F]fluoro-L-m-tyrosine (FMT), indicating that both are good methods for evaluating nigrostriatal degeneration in MPTP primate models.