Considerations for dosimetry calculations with neuroreceptor binding radioligands

Neuroreceptor binding radiotracers have unique characteristics which must be considered in absorbed dose calculations. In this article the authors outline some of the important issues to be considered such as the high specific binding to various receptor bearing tissue regions, the receptor kinetics, the specific activity of the injected ligand and the presence of competing unlabeled substances. As an example of these considerations they have shown the outline of the measurements for animal and human biodistribution data of the D2 dopamine receptor binding ligand 11C-3N-methylspiperone (NMSP) and they calculated the absorbed doses for the important body organs. This includes dose estimates using various species including mice, followed by primate and human data. Because of the selective uptake of NMSP to brain regions such as the basal ganglia they calculated values specifically for these areas in the cerebellum. Since kinetic modeling and therapeutic drug monitoring employ competing unlabeled ligands such as haloperidol which alter the NMSP distribution they estimated the dose in both unblocked and cases blocked with haloperidol. In such cases the doses were about 50% lower in the blocked cases for the basal ganglia. Target organs such as the bladder using external probes and a model based upon changing urine volumes suggests a 30% decrease from mouse estimates. 13 references, 4 figures, 7 tables