Effect on [11C]DASB binding after tranylcypromine-induced increase in serotonin concentration: positron emission tomography studies in monkeys and rats

Synapse. 2007 Jun;61(6):440-9. doi: 10.1002/syn.20382.

Abstract

Several research groups have demonstrated that under specific conditions, in vivo neuroreceptor binding techniques can be used to measure acute changes in the concentrations of endogenous transmitters in the vicinity of neuroreceptors. The aim of this study was to investigate whether [(11)C]-3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethyl-phenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile ([(11)C]DASB) binding to the plasma membrane serotonin transporter (SERT) in the rhesus monkey and rat brain decreased after a pharmacologically-induced increase in the interstitial serotonin (5HT) concentration. Three rhesus monkeys were given repeated single boluses of [(11)C]DASB in sequential positron emission tomography (PET) experiments. Rats were given the tracer as a bolus dose plus a constant infusion. In vivo binding in both models was studied before and after presumably having increased interstitial 5HT concentrations using tranylcypromine (TCP), which inhibits the enzyme (monoamine oxidase, MAO), that degrades 5HT. The rat brain tissue was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the proportion of the PET signal comprising unchanged [(11)C]DASB. The binding of [(11)C]DASB in the thalamus decreased in both rhesus monkeys and rats after TCP administration. The possibility of using [(11)C]DASB as a tool for monitoring changes in endogenous serotonin concentrations merits further investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Benzylamines / metabolism*
  • Benzylamines / pharmacokinetics
  • Binding, Competitive / drug effects
  • Binding, Competitive / physiology*
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Brain Chemistry / drug effects
  • Brain Chemistry / physiology
  • Carbon Radioisotopes
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Female
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Male
  • Monoamine Oxidase / drug effects
  • Monoamine Oxidase / metabolism
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods
  • Radioligand Assay
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Serotonin / analysis
  • Serotonin / metabolism*
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / drug effects
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Species Specificity
  • Tranylcypromine / pharmacology*
  • Up-Regulation / drug effects
  • Up-Regulation / physiology*

Substances

  • Benzylamines
  • Carbon Radioisotopes
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-amino-4-cyanophenylthio)benzylamine
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Serotonin
  • Tranylcypromine
  • Monoamine Oxidase