PET Radiopharmaceutical Metabolism — Plasma Metabolite Analysis

PET radiopharmaceutical metabolism is discussed in general. Methodology for determining the proportion of unchanged radiopharmaceutical in plasma is discussed with regard to preparation of sample, current analytical techniques, sources of errors and pitfalls. The literature on metabolite analysis in plasma is discussed for several popular radiopharmaceuticals, including labelled amino acids, flow tracers and radioligands for acetylcholine, adrenergic, benzodiazepine, dopamine and serotonin receptors.