Enzyme inhibition of dopamine metabolism alters 6-[18F]FDOPA uptake in orthotopic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

: Tuomela J, Forsback S, Haavisto L, Vahlberg T, Grönroos TJ, Solin O, Haaparanta-Solin M

: 2013

: EJNMMI Research

: 1

: 3

: 1

: 10

: 2191-219X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/2191-219X-3-18

: http://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id:84876934263

Background: An unknown location hampers removal of pancreatic tumours. We studied the effects of enzyme inhibitors on the uptake of 6-[F]fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ([F]FDOPA) in the pancreas, aiming at improved imaging of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: Mice bearing orthotopic BxPC3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma were injected with 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoro-D-glucose ([F]FDG) and scanned with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). For [F] FDOPA studies, tumour-bearing mice and sham-operated controls were pretreated with enzyme inhibitors of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) or a combination of COMT and MAO-A. Mice were injected with [F]FDOPA and scanned with PET/CT. The absolute [F]FDOPA uptake was determined from selected tissues using a gamma counter. The intratumoural biodistribution of [F]FDOPA was recorded by autoradiography. The main [F]FDOPA metabolites present in the pancreata were determined with radio-high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: [F]FDG uptake was high in pancreatic tumours, while [F]FDOPA uptake was highest in the healthy pancreas and significantly lower in tumours. [F]FDOPA uptake in the pancreas was lowest with vehicle pretreatment and highest with pretreatment with the inhibitor of AADC. When mice received COMT + MAO-A inhibitors, the uptake was high in the healthy pancreas but low in the tumour-bearing pancreas. Conclusions: Combined use of [F]FDG and [F]FDOPA is suitable for imaging pancreatic tumours. Unequal pancreatic uptake after the employed enzyme inhibitors is due to the blockade of metabolism and therefore increased availability of [F]FDOPA metabolites, in which uptake differs from that of [F]FDOPA. Pretreatment with COMT + MAO-A inhibitors improved the differentiation of pancreas from the surrounding tissue and healthy pancreas from tumour. Similar advantage was not achieved using AADC enzyme inhibitor, carbidopa. © 2013 Tuomela et al.