A publication of the AIT experts from the Biomedical Systems business unit (H&E Department) entitled “18F-FDG is not transported by P-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein at the rodent blood–brain barrier“ has recently got on the cover of the Nuclear Medicine&Biology magazine.
Short summary:
More than 90% of all PET (Positron emission tomography) utilize 18F-FDG, a radiotracer which allows functional assessment of glucose metabolism. However, in brain PET studies drug transporters located at the blood-brain barrier may confound 18F-FDG PET data as they might possible prevent the entry of 18F-FDG into brain tissue. Moreover, the activity of this transporter proteins changes as patients get older which has been suspected to affect the results of brain studies.
With this study the scientist were able to clarify that the above-mentioned drug transporter proteins do not play a role in brain pharmacokinetics. This facilitates the final interpretation of 18F-FDG PET data in brain studies.