TY - JOUR
T1 - [11C]Mirtazapine for PET neuroimaging
T2 - Radiosynthesis and initial evaluation in the living porcine brain
AU - Marthi, Katalin
AU - Bender, Dirk
AU - Gjedde, Albert
AU - Smith, Donald F.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank N.V. Organon for kindly supplying samples of mirtazapine and N-desmethyl mirtazapine, Jens Kristian Graverholt and Torben Lund for technical assistance, Dr. Nic Gillings for valuable discussions, the bioanalysts of the PET Center (Helle, Vikie, Connie and Eva) for skilful assistance, and the Institute of Experimental Clinical Research, Aarhus University Hospitals, for financial support.
PY - 2002/10
Y1 - 2002/10
N2 - We radiolabelled mirtazapine, a tetracyclic, atypical, antidepressant drug, for positron emission tomography (PET) and evaluated its regional kinetics in the living porcine brain. We produced [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine with a radiochemical-purity >98% in a 21% decay-corrected radiochemical yield by alkylation of N-desmethyl mirtazapine with [11C]methyl iodide, followed by HPLC purification and formulation. [N-Methyl-11C]mirtazapine entered the brain readily and, under baseline conditions, it had an apparent volume of distribution (Ve′) of 9-13 in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex. Reference region and graphical analyses based on a one-compartment model showed that the binding of [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine was reversible, with an apparent binding potential of more than two in thalamus and frontal cortex. Infusion of unlabelled mirtazapine markedly displaced [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine from binding sites in the basal ganglia, thalamus and frontal cortex, but not in reference regions (cerebellum and olfactory tubercle). Thus, [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine showed rapid passage into the living brain, slow metabolism in blood, and reversible, competitive binding, which may make it useful for PET neuroimaging of neuroreceptors involved in antidepressant actions.
AB - We radiolabelled mirtazapine, a tetracyclic, atypical, antidepressant drug, for positron emission tomography (PET) and evaluated its regional kinetics in the living porcine brain. We produced [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine with a radiochemical-purity >98% in a 21% decay-corrected radiochemical yield by alkylation of N-desmethyl mirtazapine with [11C]methyl iodide, followed by HPLC purification and formulation. [N-Methyl-11C]mirtazapine entered the brain readily and, under baseline conditions, it had an apparent volume of distribution (Ve′) of 9-13 in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex. Reference region and graphical analyses based on a one-compartment model showed that the binding of [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine was reversible, with an apparent binding potential of more than two in thalamus and frontal cortex. Infusion of unlabelled mirtazapine markedly displaced [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine from binding sites in the basal ganglia, thalamus and frontal cortex, but not in reference regions (cerebellum and olfactory tubercle). Thus, [N-methyl-11C]mirtazapine showed rapid passage into the living brain, slow metabolism in blood, and reversible, competitive binding, which may make it useful for PET neuroimaging of neuroreceptors involved in antidepressant actions.
KW - Antidepressant
KW - PET neuroimaging
KW - Porcine brain
KW - Tetracyclic drug
KW - [C]Mirtazapine
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U2 - 10.1016/S0924-977X(02)00049-4
DO - 10.1016/S0924-977X(02)00049-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 12208560
AN - SCOPUS:0036771734
SN - 0924-977X
VL - 12
SP - 427
EP - 432
JO - European Neuropsychopharmacology
JF - European Neuropsychopharmacology
IS - 5
ER -