Adenosine A2A receptor imaging with [11C]KF18446 PET in the rat brain after quinolinic acid lesion: Comparison with the dopamine receptor imaging

We proposed [11C]KF18446 as a selective radioligand for mapping the adenosine A2A receptors being highly enriched in the striatum by positron emission tomography (PET). In the present study, we investigated whether [11C]KF18446 PET can detect the change in the striatal adenosine A2A receptors in the rat after unilateral injection of an excitotoxin quinolinic acid into the striatum, a Huntington’s disease model, to demonstrate the usefulness of [11C]KF18446. The extent of the striatal lesion was identified based on MRI, to which the PET was co-registered. The binding potential of [11C]KF18446 significantly decreased in the quinolinic acid-lesioned striatum. The decrease was comparable to the decrease in the potential of [11C]raclopride binding to dopamine D2 receptors in the lesioned striatum, but seemed to be larger than the decrease in the potential of [11C]SCH 23390 binding to dopamine D1 receptors.Ex vivo andin vitro autoradiography validated the PET signals. We concluded that [11C]KF18446 PET can detect change in the adenosine A2A receptors in the rat model, and will provide a new diagnostic tool for characterizing post-synaptic striatopallidal neurons in the stratum.