Occupancy of dopamine D2 receptors in the mouse brain measured using ultra-high-resolution single-photon emission tomography and [123I]IBF

Functional imaging of small animals, such as mice and rats, using ultra-high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission tomography (SPET) should be a valuable tool in studies of drug occupancy of cerebral binding sites. In this study we aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of using ultra-high-resolution SPET to measure the occupancy of dopamine D-2 receptors by a competing drug, using the dopamine D-2 receptor-specific radioligand iodine-123 5-iodo-7-N-[(1-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinyl) methyl] carboxamido-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran ([I-123]IBF). Fourteen normal male mice (CD-1) were jugular vein-cannulated and a bolus infusion protocol was used to deliver 360 MBq [I-123]IBF into the mouse (bolus-to-infusion ratio 1.8:1). The mice were scanned using an ultra-high-resolution triple-headed SPET system equipped with pinhole collimators. After sustained equilibrium had been achieved, varying doses of raclopride, a potent dopamine D-2 receptor antagonist, were injected through the tail vein and the tracer was allowed to regain equilibrium. A simple equilibrium ratio of striatum to cerebellum provided a measure of D2 receptor binding both before and after injection of raclopride. Following raclopride administration, the system returned to equilibrium with lower specific binding in the striatum, while the counts in the cerebellum were unaffected. Receptor occupancy was 5.2%+/-2.9% (control), 52.1%+/-11.1% (0.3 mg/kg), 79.3%+/-4.8% (1.0 mg/kg), and 94.7%+/-2.2% (3.0 mg/kg), which gave an ED50=0.26+/-0.03 mg/kg using a single receptor site saturation model. This study has demonstrated clearly that ultra-high-resolution SPET of small animals is capable of measuring displacement and occupancy of dopamine D-2 receptors, by competing ligands.