Animal models for the evaluation of radiopharmaceuticals to measure brian blood flow and function

Several techniques have been utilized to carry out initial evaluation of radiopharmaceuticals labeled with technetium-99m and other radionuclides. The simplest technique is to measure the amount of radioactivity in the brain in rats or mice following the intravenous administration of these compounds; brain uptake and washout of radiopharmaceuticals can be estimated. More sophisticated techniques involve measuring the uptake and egress of the radiopharmaceutical following carotid artery administration in rats of primates. The Oldendorf technique compares a tracer with a standard compound e.g. tritiated water, to measure the brain uptake index of various compounds determined by decapiation at short times following administration. Another technique in which consecutive administrations of the compound to be studied and oxygen-15-labeled water are injected via the carotid artery of primates; the brain extraction and washout of the unknown tracer can be evaluated. The blood flow can be varied by altering the pCO2 of the animal. Examples will be given and techniques compared