Striatal D2/acetylcholine interactions: PET studies of the vesamicol receptor

The regional cerebral distribution of [18F]NEFA, an aminobenzovesamicol (ABV), was studied in primates with PET. The binding was stereoselective and could be blocked but not displaced with vesamicol. The regional distribution pattern at late times, striatum > cortex > cerebellum, was corroborated by in vitro autoradiography using [3H]ABV and is consistent with known patterns of cholinergic innervation. Pretreatment with sigma 1 or D1 antagonists did not affect the striatal uptake, whereas D2 antagonists markedly augmented the uptake. This is consistent with the known induction of acetylcholine turnover in the striatum in response to D2-receptor blockade and demonstrates that the amount of [18F]-(-)-NEFA incorporated was influenced by the cholinergic activity in the target neurones.