Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Alzheimer's Disease
In Vivo Imaging With Iodine 123—Labeled 3-Quinuclidinyl-4-Iodobenzilate and Emission Tomography
- B. Leonard Holman, MD;
- Raymond E. Gibson, PhD;
- Thomas C. Hill, MD;
- William C. Eckelman, PhD;
- Marilyn Albert, PhD;
- Richard C. Reba, MD
- From the Departments of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston (Drs Holman and Hill); the Department of Radiology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC (Drs Gibson, Eckelman, and Reba); the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (Dr Albert); and the Division of Aging (Dr Albert), Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Abstract
In vivo imaging of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding function in a patient with Alzheimer's disease, using single-photon emission computed tomography and iodine 123-labeled 3-quinuclidinyl-4-iodobenzilate (123I-QNB), and perfusion imaging using123I-N-isopropyl p-iodoamphetamine are described. A profound decrease in perfusion to the posterior temporal and parietal cortex and a more uniform uptake of123I-QNB throughout the cerebral cortex were observed. The123I-QNB activity ratio was reduced compared with that of a normal age-matched subject, suggesting a moderate impairment in muscarinic receptor binding function in Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, and more importantly, our study demonstrates that images of in vivo receptor binding can be obtained easily and nontraumatically using123I-QNB and single-photon emission computed tomography.
(JAMA 1985;254:3063-3066)
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 (Dr Holman).
