The evaluation value of 18F-AV-133 PET/CT imaging in the Parkinson's disease crab-eating monkey model.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of fluorine-18-9-fluoropropyl-(+)-dihydrotetrabenazine (¹⁸F-AV-133) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for Parkinson's disease (PD) and the metabolic parameter changes in the PD macaque model.

Subjects and methods: Sixty three macaques were divided into an experimental group (n=55) and a normal group (n=8) for ¹⁸F-AV-133 PET/CT imaging. In the experimental group, the macaques were injected with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) solution into one side of the neck artery 2-3 months before imaging to induce unilateral striatal damage for self-control, while the normal group received no special treatment. After imaging, two nuclear medicine doctors conducted image analysis to determine the damaged side using visual inspection and compared the data with the actual damaged side to evaluate the model construction. The standardized uptake value (SUV) semi-quantitative analysis method was used to process the images, obtaining metabolic information of the damaged and preserved sides of the striatum, thalamus, occipital lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and cerebellum in different sides of the normal group. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25 to compare metabolic differences between different sides and evaluate the impact of modeling on the metabolism of other regions of the brain, with a significance level set at P<0.05.

Results: Fluorine-18-AV-133 PET/CT imaging showed that the normal group of macaques exhibited relatively symmetrical radiotracer uptake in the bilateral striatal regions; the experimental group of PD macaque models showed completely asymmetrical radiotracer uptake in the left and right striatal regions, with model construction success rate of 100%. Semi-quantitative analysis using SUV revealed that the metabolic parameters SUVmax, SUVmean, metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) in the damaged striatal region of the experimental group of PD macaques were lower than those in the preserved side, with statistically significant differences (t/z=8.277, 12.032, 8.827, 8.744, P<0.001). The SUVmean in the damaged thalamus of the PD macaques was lower than in the preserved side (1.327±0.354 vs. 1.490±0.374), with a statistically significant difference (t=2.352, P=0.02).The metabolic parameters SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV, and TLG in the striatum of the normal group were higher than those in the preserved striatum of the experimental group, with P<0.05.

Conclusion: Fluorine-18-AV-133 PET/CT can accurately assess the construction of PD macaque models and visualize the differences in metabolic parameters between different sides, making it useful for detecting monoaminergic terminal reduction in PD patients and providing a theoretical basis for the diagnosis and follow-up treatment of PD.