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J M Link

Publications and source records attributed to J M Link.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Fluorine-18-fluoromisonidazole radiation dosimetry in imaging studies.

UNLABELLED: Fluoromisonidazole (FMISO), labeled with the positron emitter 18F, is a useful hypoxia imaging agent for PET studies, with potential applications in patients with tumors, cardiovascular disease and stroke. METHODS: Radiation doses were calculated in patients undergoing imaging studies to help define the radiation risk of FMISO-PET imaging. Time-dependent concentrations of radioactivity were determined in blood samples and PET images of patients following intravenous injection of [18F]FMISO. Radiation absorbed doses were calculated using the procedures of the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) committee, taking into account the variation in dose based on the distribution of activities observed in the individual patients. As part of this study we also calculated an S value for brain to eye. Effective dose equivalent was calculated using ICRP 60 weights. RESULTS: Effective dose equivalent was 0.013 mSv/MBq in men and 0.014 mSv/MBq in women. Individual organ doses for women were not different from men. Assuming bladder voiding at 2- or 4-hr intervals, the critical organ that received the highest dose was the urinary bladder wall (0.021 mGy/MBq with 2-hr voiding intervals or 0.029 mGy/MBq with 4-hr voiding intervals). CONCLUSION: The organ doses for [18F]FMISO are comparable to those associated with other commonly performed nuclear medicine tests and indicate that potential radiation risks associated with this study are within generally accepted limits.

Female↗

Analysis of 2-carbon-11-thymidine blood metabolites in PET imaging.

UNLABELLED: Carbon-11-thymidine labeled in the ring-2 position was used with PET to image tumor and tissue proliferation. Since thymidine is rapidly degraded in the body, one must consider the generation of metabolites to fully interpret the PET data. METHODS: We have measured the blood time-activity curves of thymidine and its metabolites in arterial blood samples. Blood was processed to obtain three input curves, including the total activity, the activity with CO2 removed and the fraction of CO2-free activity in intact thymidine (% Tdr). RESULTS: We found that CO2 reached a plateau of 65% (+/- 12%) of total blood activity by 11 min after injection. When a 1-min infusion of labeled thymidine is used, the time to 50% degradation to thymine and metabolites other than CO2 (measured in acidified samples by HPLC) was 2.9 +/- 0.6 min. We fit the results of the blood metabolism with a compartmental model. We found that we could accurately determine the % Tdr curve with as few as three measured points with an root mean square (RMS) error of 2% in the integrated curve, compared to the curve using all blood samples (mean of seven samples per patient). The integral of thymidine blood activity serves as the input to thymidine models, so similar errors could be expected in calculations of DNA synthetic rates. We found that the determination of CO2 could be accomplished with as few as five samples, with an RMS error of 4% in plateau %CO2 value. CONCLUSION: While it is essential to take metabolites into account when interpreting results obtained with 11C-thymidine, the reproducibility of these degradation curves may allow the use of a limited number of samples to measure the catabolic products of thymidine. These data from the blood, along with tissue kinetic models, are needed to calculate DNA synthetic rates.

Carbon Dioxide↗

A graphical analysis method to estimate blood-to-tissue transfer constants for tracers with labeled metabolites.

UNLABELLED: The Patlak graphical analysis technique is a popular tool for estimating blood-to-tissue transfer constants from multiple-time uptake data. Our objective was to extend this technique to tracers with labeled metabolites, the presence of which can cause errors in the standard Patlak analysis. METHODS: Based on previously described formulations, we generalized the graphical technique for use under specific conditions. To test the extended graphical approach, we applied the method to both simulated and patient data using a preliminary compartmental model for the PET tumor proliferation marker, 2-[11C]-thymidine. RESULTS: When given conditions are met, a linear relationship exists between the normalized tissue activity (tissue activity/blood activity) and a new set of graphical analysis basis functions, including a new definition of normalized time, which takes the presence of labeled metabolites into account. Graphical estimations of the tumor thymidine incorporation rate for simulated data were accurate and showed close agreement to the results of detailed compartmental analysis. In patient studies, the graphical and compartmental estimates showed good agreement but a somewhat poorer correlation than in the simulations. CONCLUSION: The extended graphical analysis approach provides an efficient method for estimating blood-tissue transfer constants for tracers with labeled metabolites.

Carbon Radioisotopes↗

Radiosynthesis of 6-[C-11]-D-glucose.

Availability of 6-[C-11]-D-glucose will permit positron emission tomography (PET) investigations of glucose utilization derived from the pentose shunt which supports biosynthesis in tissues. The first radiosynthesis of 6-[C-11]-D-glucose is described. As much as 1 mCi of 6-[C-11]-D-glucose, sufficient for animal studies, is obtained from [C-11]CO2 after 100 min with a 16% radiochemical yield (EOB). The radiosynthesis has many attractive features. The method uses [C-11]CH3I and combines a Wittig reaction and a stereoselective OsO4 catalyzed alkene hydroxylation. The OsO4 hydroxylation of the [C-11]-labeled alkene (9) is accomplished in less than 10 min with high stereoselectivity (94:6) in favor of the 6-[C-11]-D-gluco-isomer. HPLC purification (C-18) of the protected labeled sugar removes the undesired 6-[C-11]-L-ido-sugar at an early stage and avoids the use of an expensive low-capacity ion-exchange HPLC column. OsO4, a highly toxic reagent, is removed in the process by adsorption and inactivation on polymer-bound triphenylphosphine.

Carbon Radioisotopes↗

Contribution of labeled carbon dioxide to PET imaging of carbon-11-labeled compounds.

11CO2 is one of the major metabolites of many [11C]-labeled radiopharmaceuticals, including glucose, thymidine, acetate, amino acids, and fatty acids. Our data contradict the notion that the contribution of labeled CO2 to PET images can be disregarded because of its rapid elimination through the lungs. We have measured the retention and excretion of 11CO2 in dogs after the intravenous injection of labeled CO2/HCO3-, which had been equilibrated ex vivo with blood. Only 58% of the label was exhaled as CO2 over the first 60 min after injection, with the rest retained in the body. The injection of [11C]thymidine labeled in the ring-2 position or [11C]acetate labeled in the carboxylate position resulted in the production of large amounts of labeled CO2 with the exhalation of about 47% and 23%, respectively, of the injected label over 60 min. At 10 min after injection of either [11C]thymidine and [11C] acetate, approximately 60% to 70% of total blood activity was in labeled CO2 or bicarbonate. On the other hand, the use of [1-11C]glucose only resulted in exhalation of 5% of the injected dose and CO2/HCO3- made up less than 10% of blood activity at 10 min. Our results indicate that retention and distribution of labeled CO2 needs to be considered when interpreting PET data obtained from 11C-labeled compounds.

Acetates↗

Molecular and particulate depositions for regional myocardial flows in sheep.

The deposition of microspheres in small tissue regions is not strictly flow dependent. In comparison with the soluble flow marker 2-iododesmethylimipramine (IDMI), deposition of 16.5-microns microspheres was mildly but systematically biased into high flow regions of rabbit hearts (Bassingthwaighte JB, Malone MA, Moffett T-C, King RB, Little SE, Link JM, Krohn KA. Am J Physiol 1987;253 (Heart Circ Physiol 22):H184-H193). To examine the possibility of bias in larger hearts, a similar study was undertaken in sheep. 141Ce- and 103Ru-labeled 16.5-microns microspheres in one syringe and 125I- and 131I-DMI in another syringe were injected simultaneously into the left atrium of five open-chest sheep while obtaining reference blood samples from the femoral artery. In six other sheep, one microsphere type and one IDMI were used. Hearts were removed 1 minute after injection, cut into approximately 254 pieces averaging 217 mg, and regional deposition densities calculated for each tracer from the isotopic counts. Correlations in the five animals between the two differently labeled IDMIs and between the two microspheres were both greater than or equal to 0.98. In all 11 sheep, scatter plots of microsphere deposition densities versus IDMI densities showed that differences between microspheres and IDMI had substantially more scatter (0.84 less than r less than 0.98) but were not random. Microsphere depositions tended to be lower than IDMI depositions in low flow regions and higher in high flow regions, in accord with the expected bias that at a bifurcation a microsphere is most likely to enter the branch with higher flow. There was less bias ascribable to endomyocardial/epicardial maldistribution. Thus, while microsphere depositions appear to err systematically with respect to flow when the regions of interest are small enough that the diameters of their arterioles are only a few times those of the microspheres, microspheres are, in sheep as in rabbits, adequate for estimating regional flows.

Animals↗

Iodophenylpentadecanoic acid-myocardial blood flow relationship during maximal exercise with coronary occlusion.

Imaging 123I-labeled iodophenylpentadecanoic acid (IPPA) uptake and clearance from the myocardium following exercise has been advocated as a means of detecting myocardial ischemia because fatty acid deposition is enhanced and clearance prolonged in regions of low flow. However, normal regional myocardial blood flows are markedly heterogeneous, and it is not known how this heterogeneity affects regional metabolism or substrate uptake and thus image interpretation. In five instrumented dogs running at near maximal workload on a treadmill, 131I-labeled IPPA and 15-micron 46Sc microspheres were injected into the left atrium after 30 sec of circumflex coronary artery occlusion. Microsphere and IPPA activity were determined in 250 mapped pieces of myocardium of approximately 400 mg. Myocardial blood flows (from microspheres) ranged from 0.05 to 7.6 ml/min/g. Deposition of IPPA was proportional to regional flows (r = 0.83) with an average retention of 25%. The mean endocardial-epicardial ratio for IPPA (0.90 +/- 0.43) was similar to that for microspheres (0.94 +/- 0.47; p = 0.08). Thus, initial IPPA deposition during treadmill exercise increases in proportion to regional myocardial blood flow over a range of flows from very low to five times normal.

Animals↗

Comparative sensitivity of sea urchin sperm bioassays to metals and pesticides.

A simple sperm/fertilization bioassay, primarily using sea urchin gametes, has been developed and used by a variety of laboratories. This assay was recently refined into a standard test and is now being used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others for toxicity testing in marine waters. One factor that has lagged behind the development of this assay is the comparison of its sensitivity to various common toxicants as compared to other bioassay systems and life stages of other marine organisms. The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of a standardized sea urchin sperm/fertilization assay to the responses of embryo, larval, and adult marine organisms to metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) and pesticides (DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Endosulfan) added to natural seawater. The results, although highly variable, generally showed that sperm/fertilization and embryo assays were quite sensitive to the metals tested, but that the larval and adult assays were more sensitive to the pesticides. These comparative data, together with other studies of complex effluents, show that the standardized sperm/fertilization bioassay is an especially quick and useful tool for biomonitoring of marine waters.

Animals↗

A radiosynthesis of fluorine-18 fluoromisonidazole.

A new preparation of [18F]fluoromisonidazole [1H-1-(3-[18F] fluoro-2-hydroxypropyl)-2-nitroimidazole] is presented as a two-step, two-pot reaction sequence. The method is useful for the production of 20-30 mCi quantities of this compound from [18F]fluoride, available in 40% radiochemical yield at end of bombardment (EOB) with a specific activity (nca) of greater than 650 Ci/mmol (EOB) and a synthesis time of approximately 140 min. The key feature of the reaction scheme is the preparation of a new fluoroalkylating agent, [18F]epifluorohydrin.

Fluorine Radioisotopes↗

Validity of microsphere depositions for regional myocardial flows.

Due to the particulate nature of microspheres, their deposition in small-tissue regions may not be strictly flow dependent. To evaluate the importance of rheological and geometric factors and random error, their deposition densities in small regions of rabbit hearts were examined in comparison with those of a new "molecular microsphere," 2-iododesmethylimipramine (IDMI), whose high lipid solubility allows it to be delivered into tissue in proportion to flow, and whose binding in tissue prevents rapid washout. 141Ce- and 103Ru-labeled 16.5-micron spheres in one syringe and [125I]- and [131I]DMI in another syringe were injected simultaneously into the left atrium of open-chest rabbits, while obtaining reference blood samples from the femoral artery. Hearts were removed 1 min after injection, cut into approximately 100 pieces averaging 54 mg, and the regional deposition densities calculated for each tracer from the isotopic counts. Correlations between the differently labeled microspheres were r greater than 0.95 and for the two IDMIs were greater than 0.98. Scatter plots of sphere densities vs. IDMI densities showed that differences between microspheres and IDMI had substantial scatter, 0.87 less than r less than 0.96 and were not random. Microsphere depositions tended to be lower than IDMI depositions at low flows and higher at high flows. The tendency for spheres to be deposited preferentially in high-flow regions may be explained by a bias at bifurcations toward entering the branch with higher flow and secondarily toward entering those branches that are straighter. We conclude that microspheres are generally adequate for estimating regional flows but suffer systematic error when the regions of interest are supplied via arteries of diameters only a few times those of the microspheres.

Animals↗

Myocardial extraction and retention of 2-iododesmethylimipramine: a novel flow marker.

An ideal deposition marker for measuring regional flow is completely extracted during transcapillary passage and permanently retained. beta-Labeled desmethylimipramine ([3H]DMI) is a nearly ideal flow marker. To obtain gamma- and positron-emitting markers, DMI was iodinated to form 2-iododesmethylimipramine (IDMI). IDMI was more lipophilic than DMI. In isolated saline-perfused rabbit hearts its transorgan extraction was greater than 99%; and retention was greater than 98% at 5 min at mean flows of up to 3.5 ml X g-1 X min-1. During washout, the fractional escape rate was less than 0.1% X min-1 and was independent of flow. In isolated blood-perfused rabbit hearts, extraction was still 98%, but retention was as low as 86% after 5 min at a flow of 1.6 ml X g-1 X min-1. The fractional escape rate was up to 2% X min-1 but independent of flow. Despite this relatively rapid loss, regional IDMI deposition remains proportional to regional flow for many minutes. Therefore IDMI is useful as an externally detectable "molecular microsphere" for myocardial flow imaging in vivo.

Animals↗

Cardiac receptor physiology and its application to clinical imaging: present and future.

Both gamma imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of cell surface receptors have become possible through the development of agonists and antagonists with high specific radioactivity and high specificity for the receptors. An understanding of the physiology of the cardiac receptor system is essential to comprehending receptor imaging. The complexity of the physiologic information developed over the past decade has been compounded by the concomitant discovery of additional receptor subtypes. The following is a review of a select group of cardiac receptors and their regulation-namely, adrenergic, muscarinic-cholinergic, adenosine, and angiotensin I and II receptors. The role of imaging regional receptor localization and function in providing new insights into cardiac pathology and therapeutic avenues is explored.

Autonomic Nervous System↗