Nucl Med Commun

A dual-tracer method for studying intragastric distribution and gastric emptying of solids and liquids in functional dyspepsia.

Year 1998
Kairemo KJ. Koskenpato J. Korppi-Tommola ET. Farkkila M.
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
Twenty-five patients with functional dyspepsia and 11 healthy controls matched for age and sex were examined. The patients were divided into two groups: patients with dysmotility-like symptoms and those with ulcer-like symptoms. In a dual-tracer gastric emptying study, dysmotility-like and ulcer-like symptoms could not be distinguished from each other on the basis of gastric emptying times. The intragastric distribution and the solid lag time in dysmotility-like dyspepsia differed significantly from those of the controls.

A simplified method for the quantitative analysis of 99Tc(m)-GSA liver scintigraphy using spectral analysis.

Year 1998
Murase K. Tsuda T. Mochizuki T. Ikezoe J.
Department of Radiology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Japan.
The aim of this study was to develop a simplified method for quantitative analysis of liver scintigraphy with 99Tc(m)-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-galactosyl-human serum albumin (GSA) using spectral analysis. Dynamic liver scintigraphy using GSA was performed in three normal volunteers and 19 patients with chronic liver disease. Dynamic data were obtained with a gamma camera for 30 min after the injection of approximately 185 MBq GSA. The rate constant for the liver uptake of GSA from the blood (Ku, min(-1)), total excretion rate (Ke, min(-1)) and non-specific volume of distribution (Vh) were obtained by spectral analysis. Vh was defined as the volume in the liver region of interest (ROI) occupied by GSA which was in equilibrium with that in the blood. It should be noted that Vh had no units, since the counts in both the liver and heart ROIs were normalized by scan length to obtain counts pixel(-1) min(-). For comparison, compartmental analysis was also performed. A receptor index (LHL15) was calculated by dividing the radioactivity of the liver ROI by that of the liver plus heart ROIs 15 min post-injection. The Ku values obtained by spectral analysis (y) agreed well with those obtained by compartmental analysis (x) (y = 0.953x - 0.013, r = 0.992, S.E.E. = 0.016 min(-1)). The Ke and Vh values obtained by spectral analysis (y) correlated significantly with those obtained by compartmental analysis (x) (y = 1.149x - 0.016, r = 0.826, S.E.E. = 0.017 min(-1) for Ke; y = 1.191x + 0.044, r = 0.975, S.E.E. = 0.021 for Vh). The Ku values obtained by spectral analysis decreased as the severity of liver disease progressed, and were non-linearly related to the LHL15 values, suggesting that Ku is more sensitive to liver damage than LHL15, especially in the early stages of liver damage. These results suggest that spectral analysis applied to dynamic liver scintigraphy with GSA provides a simple, non-invasive and useful tool for the quantitative evaluation of liver function.

Activated charcoal as a potential radioactive marker for gastrointestinal studies.

Year 1998
Mullan BP. Camilleri M. Hung JC.
Nuclear Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
The scintigraphic measurement of colonic transit is currently performed using 111In ion exchange resin pellets delivered to the colon in a capsule coated with a pH sensitive polymer, methacrylate, which dissolves in the distal ileum. However, in the USA, this requires an investigational drug permit. Our aim was to evaluate the in vitro binding characteristics of activated charcoal in milieus that mimicked gastric and small intestinal content. The in vitro incubation of activated charcoal was performed with Na99Tc(m)O4, 99Tc(m)-DTPA, 111InCl3, 111In-DTPA, 201TlCl and 67Ga-citrate in the pH range 2-4 and pH 7.2 at 37 degrees C. We estimated the association of radiopharmaceuticals with the activated charcoal over a 3 h in vitro incubation. With the exception of 67Ga-citrate, the association of activated charcoal with the other radiopharmaceuticals was approximately 100% throughout the 3 h incubation. In conclusion, activated charcoal appears to adsorb avidly with common radioisotopes, and appears promising as an alternative to resin ion exchange pellets used for the measurement of gastrointestinal transit by scintigraphy.

Internalization of radiolabelled [DTPA0]octreotide and [DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide: peptides for somatostatin receptor-targeted scintigraphy and radionuclide therapy.

Year 1998
De Jong M. Bernard BF. De Bruin E. Van Gameren A. Bakker WH. Visser TJ. Macke HR. Krenning EP.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Dijkzigt, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
We compared the internalization of [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide and [111In-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide with that of [125I-Tyr3]octreotide and [111In-DTPA0]octreotide in the subtype 2 somatostatin receptor (sst2)-positive rat pancreatic tumour cell lines CA20948 and AR42J and in the somatostatin receptor-negative human anaplastic thyroid tumour cell line ARO. We demonstrated that [111In-DTPA0]octreotide, [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide and [111In-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide are internalized by a receptor-specific, time- and temperature-dependent process. The amount of [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide internalized was higher than that of [111In-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide and [111In-DTPA0]octreotide.