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Updated: May 31, 2026
A Method for Mouse Pancreatic Islet Isolation and Intracellular cAMP Determination
Published on: June 25, 2014
18F-Fallypride PET of pancreatic islets: in vitro and in vivo rodent studies
Adriana Garcia1, Mohammad Reza Mirbolooki, Cristian Constantinescu
1Preclinical Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
Unlabelled:
Islet cell loss in the pancreas results in diabetes. A noninvasive method that measures islet cell loss and also tracks the fate of transplanted islets would facilitate the development of novel therapeutics and improve the management of diabetes. We describe a novel dopamine D(2)/D(3) receptor (D(2)/D(3)R)-based PET method to study islet cells in the rat pancreas and in islet cell transplantation.
Methods:
(18)F-fallypride binding to isolated rat islets and pancreas was evaluated in the absence and presence of the D(2)/D(3)R inhibitor haloperidol. After intravenous (18)F-fallypride (28-37 MBq) administration, normal rats and rats pretreated with haloperidol were imaged in a PET/CT scanner and subsequently studied ex vivo for (18)F-fallypride localization in the pancreas. A streptozotocin-treated diabetic rat model was used to study localization of (18)F-fallypride in the pancreas, in vitro and ex vivo. Rat islet cells were transplanted into the spleen and visualized using (18)F-fallypride PET.
Results:
(18)F-fallypride bound to isolated islet cells and pancreatic sections with an endocrine or exocrine selectivity of approximately 4; selectivity was reduced by haloperidol, suggesting that binding was D(2)/D(3)R-specific. Chemical destruction of islets by streptozotocin decreased (18)F-fallypride binding in pancreas by greater than 50%, paralleling the decrease in insulin immunostaining. Uptake of (18)F-fallypride in the pancreas was confirmed by radiochromatography and was 0.05% injected dose/cm(3) as measured by PET/CT. The ratio of (18)F-fallypride uptake in the pancreas to reference tissue (erector spinae muscle) was 5.5. Rat islets transplanted into the spleen were visualized in vivo by (18)F-fallypride and confirmed by immunostaining. The ratio of spleen-transplanted islets to erector spinae muscle was greater than 5, compared with a ratio of 2.8 in untransplanted rats.
Conclusion:
These studies demonstrate the potential utility of (18)F-fallypride as a PET agent for islet cells.
