Twenty PET scans were performed in 10 healthy subjects to evaluate [
18F]PK-209 brain kinetics, test–retest reproducibility, and quantification of radiotracer binding to the intrachannel binding site of NMDA receptors. To this end, TRT variability was assessed in five subjects, followed by blocking experiments with intravenous 0.5 mg ∙ kg
−1S-ketamine administration in five different subjects. The kinetic profile of [
18F]PK-209 indicated irreversible binding, at least for the 120 min scan duration, suggesting a trapped binding mechanism or slow dissociation. The slow irreversible nature is in accordance with in vivo behavior of [
11C]GMOM [
10], the carbon-11 labeled analogue of PK-209. [
18F]PK-209 readily entered the brain and displayed a fairly uniform pattern of uptake, with the rank-order of highest to lowest net influx constant (
Ki) in the volume-weighted ROIs being brainstem>cortex>cerebellum-thalamus-hippocampus-insula>dorsal striatum. There were no ROIs from which TACs were consistently favored by a kinetic model other than the 2T3k_V
B model. However, the significant correlation between 2T3k_V
B model agreement and ROI size indicated that TACs in smaller brain ROIs were affected more by noise and thus described adequately by several models. Previous kinetic analyses of PET scans with the structurally related radiotracer [
11C]GMOM have shown similar heterogeneity in model preference between and within subjects [
10].
Test–retest variability
The TRT variability of [
18F]PK-209
Ki calculated with single scan input functions was relatively large compared with reports of other radiotracers using similar equipment and techniques [
21], at 24% in whole brain GM
Ki and 17 to 36% in individual ROIs. A closer examination of SUV
AUC showed good consistency between test and retest scans, with a mean 12% difference. Tracer uptake in the last 30 min of the scan, SUV
90–120, did not correlate with the irreversible rate of influx
Ki in this group of subjects. Considering the small
k3, it is likely that the PET signal at 90 to 120 min p.i. is still dominated by free and non-specific binding. Furthermore, the TACs themselves showed clear dissociation and washout of [
18F]PK-209 during the course of the scan, suggesting that the ligand’s trapping component within the ion channel is relatively small. In the present study, a “coffee-break” protocol with extended scanning up to 4 h post radiotracer injection may have provided additional information on kinetics, such as the contribution of the ligand-binding site dissociation constant
k4. However, tracer metabolism and low count rates at late timepoints would have complicated measurements of the input function.
Blood data from arterial measurements during the PET scan showed that there was rapid blood pool clearance combined with rapid tracer metabolism. Mean parent fractions were 57 and 34% at 10 and 20 min p.i., respectively, which is somewhat higher compared with non-human primate parent fractions [
15]. Fast metabolism has also been shown in clinical PET studies of [
11C]ketamine [
22] and ligands from the class of bis(aryl)guanidines, i.e., [
11C]CNS-5161 [
23], [
11C]GMOM [
10], and [
18F]GE-179 [
24], which are structurally related to [
18F]PK-209. HPLC analysis showed that one [
18F]PK-209 metabolite accounted for approximately 30% of total plasma radioactivity from 20 min until the end of the scan. A limitation of the present study was that the fractional recovery of radioactivity from plasma declined over time, stabilizing at approximately 45%. Arterial samples taken immediately before PET were incubated with [
18F]PK-209 at 37 °C, and radioactivity recovery of these samples remained constant at approximately 90% during the 2-h experiment. The difference between recovery fractions suggests that, during the scan, metabolites were formed in the body, which subsequently were retained within the pellet for corresponding samples. An influx of radiometabolites into the brain may have confounded [
18F]PK-209 quantification and contributed to TRT variability. Ex vivo rodent studies have shown that polar metabolites only contribute 4% to total brain radioactivity at 60 min p.i. The non-polar metabolite fraction, however, was 18 and 25% at 15 and 60 min p.i., respectively [
13]. Logan plots of [
18F]PK-209 in non-human primates showed that linearity was attained from early to late timepoints, arguing against the significant accumulation of radiometabolites in the brain. Furthermore, recovery of radioactivity in the present study was high at the start of the scan, indicating that the analytical methods to measure parent [
18F]PK-209 and associated input functions provided reliable results. TRT variability was further examined as a function of parent fraction determination in plasma. To this end, TACs were modeled with arterial input functions using parent fractions that were averaged within subjects and across the two samples of five subjects. Within-subject input functions led to a substantial reduction in
Ki TRT variability from 24 to 7% and improved consistency of the 2T3k_V
B model preference from 14 to 17 (out of 20) PET scans.
Preliminary results showed a significant correlation between scan interval in days and reduction in
Ki using the single-scan input function, but not with subject- and population-averaged input functions. This correlation is likely due to either a systemic error in test or retest input function measurements or a true biological component resulting in lowered availability of the NMDA channel site for radiotracer binding during the second scan. In same-day test–retest studies with the metabotropic glutamatergic tracers [
11C]ABP688 and [
18F]FPEB, it was shown that binding was significantly higher in the second scan, whereas two scans days to weeks apart showed good TRT variability [
25]. Diurnal and seasonal variation in receptor or endogenous ligand concentrations might be sources of increased TRT variability. In the present study, however, all scans were performed in the afternoon between 12:00 and 15:00 h, limiting diurnal effects on glutamatergic neurotransmission. The moderate correlation of
Ki with duration of daylight and strong correlation of
Ki with scan interval could be indicative of seasonal effects. These have been found previously in serotonin 5-HT
1A receptor PET studies [
26]. Finally, and taking into consideration the limitations of a small sample size, it is noteworthy that the two subjects aged 34 and 37 showed numerically higher TRT variability compared with the three subjects aged 22–23. Future work is needed to understand the source of variability and a full validation of these findings will require a larger cohort.
Ketamine blocking studies
Despite good quality data for all [
18F]PK-209 scans, there was no consistent effect of ketamine administration on the pharmacokinetic model parameters. Intravenous ketamine administration increased whole brain SUV
AUC and SUV
90–120 in three out of five subjects, whereas previous non-human primate experiments showed a 15% reduction in mean SUV
AUC after MK-801 administration [
15]. The best PET model fits changed in four out of five subjects following ketamine administration, but not in a predictable manner. The unstable fits of [
18F]PK-209 may be explained by changes in the arterial input function or brain pharmacokinetics of the tracer. For example, the increased SUV in subjects 6, 7, and 10, which is reflected in increased
K1 values, shows that the uptake of [
18F]PK-209 is blood flow-dependent. Ketamine is known to exert direct vasodilatory effects on the cerebral vasculature through a calcium-dependent mechanism. In a review of 20 human imaging studies, it was shown that plasma ketamine concentrations, comparable to those used in the present study, increased global and/or regional cerebral blood flow in human subjects [
27]. Contrasting results from a recent simultaneous PET and functional MRI imaging study in anesthetized non-human primates demonstrated that cerebral blood volume following administration of the PCP site blocker GE-179 was acutely reduced [
28]. In a bolus-plus-infusion paradigm, “cold” GE-179 at a dose of 0.6 mg ∙ kg
−1 was administered when [
18F]GE-179 was at steady state, which was expected to reduce the brain signal by competitive displacement at the PCP binding site. A short-term blood volume decrease was observed; however, GE-179 did not significantly block the PET signal and had no effect on arterial plasma blood levels, indicating that the [
18F]GE-179 signal is independent of flow [
28]. Ketamine may affect blood flow differently than GE-179, and a future study in humans with simultaneous [
18F]PK-209 PET and fMRI could elucidate the relationship between NMDA-R blockers, blood flow, and radiotracer binding.
The arterial plasma fractions of [
18F]PK-209 in the baseline scans were on average 8 to 15% lower than in the ketamine scans (Fig.
4), but also 16% lower compared with the TRT group. The small increase in baseline metabolism of subjects 6 to 10 may suggest an initial group difference which was normalized by ketamine administration. However, in non-human primates, there was no effect of MK-801 on [
18F]PK-209 metabolism, nor did ketamine administration affect [
11C]GMOM metabolism in humans. Systematic errors in the estimation of arterial blood parameters or natural variability in metabolism may underlie the observed differences. Although the measurement error may have affected the model parameters, it is unlikely to explain the variability of [
18F]PK-209
Ki between subjects following ketamine administration.
The mean plasma ketamine concentrations plateaued at ~ 100 ng ∙ mL
−1 between 20 and 60 min after the start of PET (40 min since the start of ketamine infusion) and decreased to ~ 70 ng ∙ mL
−1 at the end of the scan, 160 min since the start of 0.5 mg ∙ kg
−1 ketamine infusion. As expected, the
Cmax in the current study was dose-proportionally higher than the 0.3 mg ∙ kg
−1 ketamine administered in the [
11C]GMOM blocking study [
10]. Subjects in a SPECT study by Stone et al. [
29] were administered 1.1 mg ∙ kg
−1S-ketamine over 75 min, which led to a mean plasma concentration of 173 ng ∙ mL
−1 and displacement of the NMDA-R channel ligand [
123I]CNS-1261 in the brain. Preclinical in vivo studies have also demonstrated a strong and rapid temporal relationship between ketamine concentrations in plasma and radiotracer inhibition in brain tissue. For example, in rats, 67% inhibition of [
3H]MK-801 binding was observed at 1 min post-dosing with 3 mg ∙ kg
−1 racemic (±)ketamine IV, and the inhibition declined to 19% at 20 min post-dose [
30]. The plasma racemic ketamine concentration required to inhibit 50% of specific [
3H]MK-801 binding in vivo has been calculated in the range of 1.9–3.7 μM [
30]. The present pharmacokinetic data show a concentration of ketamine in plasma of 0.3–0.4 μM during PET scanning, which may have been insufficient to unmask specific uptake of [
18F]PK-209. Nevertheless,
S-ketamine at a lower plasma concentration of 0.26 μM was shown to reduce the
Ki of the equipotent carbon-11 labeled analogue of PK-209, [
11C]GMOM, in humans [
10]. The concentrations of unlabelled PK-209 and GMOM that inhibit specific binding of [
3H]MK-801 to rat forebrain membranes were shown to be similar at 18.4 and 21.7 nM respectively [
13]. Furthermore, data from the preclinical [
18F]PK-209 PET study demonstrated that a dose of 0.3 mg ∙ kg
−1 MK-801 reduced the volume of distribution in two out of three rhesus monkeys compared with baseline [
15]. In displacement binding studies, MK-801 is two orders of magnitude more potent than (±)ketamine at the ion channel site [
30], but the compound is not approved for human use and therefore could not be implemented in the present study design. Despite these reports of inhibition of NMDA-R activity by channel blockers, the recent preclinical in vivo evaluation of [
18F]GE-179 suggests that the PET signal is largely non-specific [
28].
NMDA receptors are complex, highly modulated ligand-gated ion channels bound in cell membranes that, in order to open, require activation of nearby AMPA and kainate receptors as well as co-activation by glutamate and
d-serine or glycine. Recently, electron cryomicroscopy experiments revealed how small molecules affect the NMDA-R structure and ion channel opening [
31]. Many endogenous ligands acting at NMDA-Rs, such as Mg
2+, Zn
2+, H
+, polyamine cations, neurosteroids, and fatty acids, determine the in vivo binding properties of ligands targeted for NMDA receptors. For example, it has been shown that in native NMDA receptors of rat hippocampus CA1 pyramidal neurons, IC
50 values of NMDA-R channel blockers are increased 1.5 to 5 times compared with magnesium-free conditions [
32]. Variations in physiological Mg
2+ or other endogenous ligands could have affected [
18F]PK-209 binding and may have contributed to the observed TRT variability and inconsistent ketamine effects. A second possibility is that ketamine and [
18F]PK-209 inhibit distinct populations of NMDA-Rs. Ketamine predominantly inhibits synaptic NMDA-Rs, whereas for example memantine primarily inhibits extrasynaptic NMDA-Rs [
33], although more weakly [
34]. In this respect, it may be valuable to investigate memantine as a pharmacological blocker in future PET studies with NMDA-R radiotracers to examine different domains of [
18F]PK-209 binding. A third possibility is that ion channel ligands exhibit biexponential association kinetics with the NMDA ionophore and thereby complicate PET pharmacokinetic modeling. Very few studies have examined how the association rate constants of ion channel blockers change as a function of radioligand concentration, and there is evidence to suggest that the kinetics of channel blocker association with the NMDA ionophore do not follow the law of mass-action [
2]. Changing the ligand-binding site accessibility can change the rate of association and dissociation, but has no effect on equilibrium affinity of ligand binding [
35]. One cannot exclude that the slightly different doses of [
18F]PK209 injected in the baseline versus the blocking scans may have contributed to a noisy data set.