Evaluation of Sympathetic Nerve Terminals With [ ¹¹ C]Epinephrine and [ ¹¹ C]Hydroxyephedrine and Positron Emission Tomography

Abstract

Both tracers showed high selectivity for neuronal uptake in the heart, with a significant reduction in tracer retention in transplant recipients compared with volunteers. Compared with HED, EPI showed greater retention in volunteers and a lower retention ratio in transplant recipients, suggesting that EPI may be the superior tracer with higher sensitivity to neuronal abnormalities. Because EPI reflects neuronal uptake, metabolism, and storage, it may be more suitable for the study of neuronal integrity than HED, which primarily traces uptake-1 capacity.