Positron emission tomographic studies on aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase activity in vivo for L-dopa and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan in the monkey brain

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Abstract
The regional brain kinetics following 5-hydroxy-L-(β-11 C)tryptophan and L-(β-11 C)DOPA intravenous injection was measured in twelve Rhesus monkeys using positron emission tomography (PET). The radiolabelled compounds were also injected together with various doses of unlabelled 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan or L-DOPA. The radioactivity accumulated in the striatal region and the rate of increased utilization with time was calculated using a graphical method with back of the brain as a reference region. The rate constants for decarboxylation were 0.0070 ± 0.0007 (S. D) and 0.0121±0.0010min−1 for 5-hydroxy-L-(β-11C)tryptophan and L-(β-11 C)DOPA, respectively. After concomitant injection with unlabelled 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, the rate constant of 5-hydroxy-L-(β-11 C)tryptophan decreased dose-dependently and a 50 percent reduction was seen with a dose of about 4mg/kg of unlabelled compound. A decreased utilization rate of L-(β-11 C)DOPA was seen only after simultaneous injection of 30 mg/kg of either L-DOPA or 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan. This capacity limitation was most likely interpreted as different affinity of the striatal aromatic amino acid decarboxylase for L-DOPA and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, respectively.