Radiosynthesis and in vivo evaluation of a series of substituted 11C-phenethylamines as 5-HT2A agonist PET tracers

Abstract

Purpose Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of serotonin 2A (5-HT_2A) receptors with agonist tracers holds promise for the selective labelling of 5-HT_2A receptors in their high-affinity state. We have previously validated [¹¹C]Cimbi-5 and found that it is a 5-HT_2A receptor agonist PET tracer. In an attempt to further optimize the target-to-background binding ratio, we modified the chemical structure of the phenethylamine backbone and carbon-11 labelling site of [¹¹C]Cimbi-5 in different ways. Here, we present the in vivo validation of nine novel 5-HT_2A receptor agonist PET tracers in the pig brain. Methods Each radiotracer was injected intravenously into anaesthetized Danish Landrace pigs, and the pigs were subsequently scanned for 90 min in a high-resolution research tomography scanner. To evaluate 5-HT_2A receptor binding, cortical nondisplaceable binding potentials (BP_ND) were calculated using the simplified reference tissue model with the cerebellum as a reference region. Results After intravenous injection, all compounds entered the brain and distributed preferentially into the cortical areas, in accordance with the known 5-HT_2A receptor distribution. The largest target-to-background binding ratio was found for [¹¹C]Cimbi-36 which also had a high brain uptake compared to its analogues. The cortical binding of [¹¹C]Cimbi-36 was decreased by pretreatment with ketanserin, supporting 5-HT_2A receptor selectivity in vivo. [¹¹C]Cimbi-82 and [¹¹C]Cimbi-21 showed lower cortical BP_ND, while [¹¹C]Cimbi-27, [¹¹C]Cimbi-29, [¹¹C]Cimbi-31 and [¹¹C]Cimbi-88 gave rise to cortical BP_ND similar to that of [¹¹C]Cimbi-5. Conclusion [¹¹C]Cimbi-36 is currently the most promising candidate for investigation of 5-HT_2A receptor agonist binding in the living human brain with PET.