Availability of Dopamine Transporters in Heroin-dependent Subjects: A 18F-FECNT PET Imaging Study

This study was to reconfirm the reduced dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in heroin-dependent subjects and validate the use of 2 β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-chlorophenyl)−8-(2-fluoroethyl)-nortropane (18F-FECNT) as a PET radiotracer to assess the changes of striatal DAT in drug addicted subjects. Herein, we assessed DAT standardized uptake values (SUV) of 18F-FECNT in the striatum and cerebellum of 20 heroin-dependent subjects a nd 10 healthy controls and analyzed the correlation between DAT availability and heroin withdrawal symptom scores and anxiety/depression rating scales in heroin-dependent subjects, as well as the relationship between the withdrawal symptoms scores and age.
Source: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research