Measurement of striatal D2 dopamine receptor density and affinity with [11C]-raclopride in vivo: a test-retest analysis.

Subacute and long-term stability of measurements of D2 dopamine receptor density (Bmax), affinity (Kd) was studied with positron emission tomography in eight healthy male volunteers. [11C]-Raclopride and the transient equilibrium method were used to measure D2 receptor characteristics. The interval between measurements (scan pairs) was 3 to 7 weeks (subacute) for four subjects and 6 to 11 months (long-term) for four subjects. A test-retest analysis of quantitative measurements of D2 receptor Bmax and Kd was compared with that done on binding potential (BP, Bmax/Kd) measures. In addition, the effect of error in defining the transient equilibrium time (tmax) in the parameter estimation procedure was explored with simulations. The subacute test-retest indicates good reproducibility of D2 receptor density, affinity, and BP ratio measurements with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.90, 0.96, and 0.86, respectively. The variability of the measurements after 6 to 11 months was slightly higher than that seen in a subacute testing for Kd and more clearly so for binding potential and Bmax. The absolute variability in Bmax (14.5%) measurements was consistently higher than that of Kd (8.4%) or BP (7.9%) both in subacute and long-term measurements. Simulations indicated that the Bmax and Kd estimation procedure is more sensitive to error in the tmax than that for the BP. The results indicate a good overall stability of the equilibrium method with [11C]raclopride for measuring dopamine D2 receptor binding characteristics in the striatum. The BP approach is more stable than Kd and especially Bmax measurements. Error in defining the tmax in particular in the low specific radioactivity scan may be one source of greater variability in Bmax versus BP. However, a higher intraindividual variability in measurements of the D2 receptor Bmax also may include a component of continuous regulation of this parameter over time. These methodologic aspects should be considered in the design and interpretation of longitudinal studies on D2 dopamine receptor characteristics with [11C]-raclopride.