Human Brain Imaging and Radiation Dosimetry of 11C-N-Desmethyl-Loperamide, a PET Radiotracer to Measure the Function of P-Glycoprotein

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a membrane-bound efflux pump that limits the distribution of drugs to several organs of the body. At the blood-brain barrier, P-gp blocks the entry of both loperamide and its metabolite, N-desmethyl-loperamide (N-dLop), and thereby prevents central opiate effects. Animal studies have shown that C-11-dLop, compared with C-11-loperamide, is an especially promising radiotracer because it generates negligible radiometabolites that enter the brain. The purposes of this study were to determine whether C-11-dLop is a substrate for P-gp at the blood-brain barrier in humans and to measure the distribution of radioactivity in the entire body to estimate radiation exposure. Methods: Brain PET scans were acquired in 4 healthy subjects for 90 min and included concurrent measurements of the plasma concentration of unchanged radiotracer. Time-activity data from the whole brain were quantified using a 1-tissue-compartment model to estimate the rate of entry (K-1) of radiotracer into the brain. Whole-body PET scans were acquired in 8 healthy subjects for 120 min. Results: For brain imaging, after the injection of C-11-dLop the concentration of radioactivity in the brain was low (standardized uptake value, similar to 15%) and stable after approximately 20 min. In contrast, uptake of radioactivity in the pituitary was about 50-fold higher than that in the brain. The plasma concentration of C-11-dLop declined rapidly, but the percentage composition of plasma was unusually stable, with the parent radiotracer constituting 85% of total radioactivity after approximately 5 min. The rate of brain entry was low (K-1 = 0.009 +/- 0.002 mL.cm(-3.)min(-1); n = 4). For whole-body imaging, as a measure of radiation exposure to the entire body the effective dose of C-11-dLop was 7.8 +/- 0.6 mu Sv/MBq (n = 8). Conclusion: The low brain uptake of radioactivity is consistent with C-11-dLop being a substrate for P-gp in humans and confirms that this radiotracer generates negligible quantities of brain-penetrant radiometabolites. In addition, the low rate of K-1 is consistent with P-gp rapidly effluxing substrates while they transit through the lipid bilayer. The radiation exposure of C-11-dLop is similar to that of many other C-11-radiotracers. Thus, C-11-dLop is a promising radiotracer to study the function of P-gp at the blood-brain barrier, at which impaired function would allow increased uptake into the brain.