Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the topographical distribution of dopamine transporter (DAT), dopamine D2 receptor, and glucose metabolism in Parkinson's disease (PD) using PET/computed tomography (CT) scanning and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis.
Participants and methods: Seventy-four patients (58 PD patients and 16 normal controls) underwent DAT, D2 receptor, and glucose brain PET/CT scans using C-methyl-N-2-β-carbomethoxy-3-β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane (C-β-CFT), C-raclopride (C-RAC), and fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) radiotracers for the respective scans. All three PET/CT procedures were performed in each participant. The uptake patterns were analyzed using SPM software.
Results: Striatal DAT binding was lower in PD patients than in controls, whereas D2 receptor binding did not differ between PD patients and controls. D2 receptor binding was increased in the putamen in only the 12 drug-naive patients. Glucose uptake was also slightly lower in the cingulate gyrus of PD patients than in the controls.
Conclusion: Suite PET/CT scans using the ligands C-β-CFT, C-RAC, and F-FDG PET/CT are valuable for diagnosing PD. SPM-based analysis of static PET/CT scan data is potentially of great clinical use.