Can [15O]water be used to evaluate drugs?

There is an extensive literature supporting the use of rCBF as a surrogate marker of local neuronal activity. This provides a strong physiologic rationale for using PET measurements of rCBF to study the effects of drugs acting on the brain. The ability to perform multiple brief measurements of rCBF with [15O]water in a single study session makes possible a wide variety of experimental designs. Numerous investigators have successfully applied the method to study a wide variety of centrally acting drugs. In summary, then, the answer to the question, "Can [15O]water be used to evaluate drugs?" is a definitive yes.