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Published on: June 14, 2018
18F-DOPA, a clinically available PET tracer to study brain inflammation?
Quentin Sala1, Philippe Metellus, David Taieb
1From the *APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service Central de Biophysique et Médecine Nucléaire, Marseille; †Aix-Marseille Univ, CERIMED, Marseille; ‡APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service de Neurochirurgie, Marseille; §APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service de Neurologie, Marseille; ¶APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service d'Anatomie Pathologique et Neuropathologie, Marseille; and ∥Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, UMR7289, INT, Marseille, France.
Positron emission tomography (PET) scans using 18F-FDOPA may help detect brain inflammation, not just tumors. This amino-acid tracer shows potential for studying inflammatory conditions like ADEM and neurosarcoidosis.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Radiochemistry
Background:
- 18F-FDOPA is an amino-acid PET radiotracer used to assess tumoral proliferation via L-amino acid transporter metabolism.
- Inflammatory processes in the brain can also contribute to increased uptake of amino-acid tracers.
Observation:
- Two cases of suspected low-grade glioma presented with positive 18F-FDOPA PET scans.
- Histological examination revealed brain inflammation, specifically acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and neurosarcoidosis, rather than glioma.
Findings:
- The positive 18F-FDOPA uptake in these cases was associated with inflammatory conditions, not tumoral proliferation.
- This suggests that 18F-FDOPA PET can reveal inflammatory changes in the brain.
Implications:
- 18F-FDOPA PET imaging may be a valuable tool for diagnosing and studying inflammatory brain diseases.
- This expands the potential diagnostic applications of amino-acid PET beyond oncology.
