Preclinical evaluation of [¹⁸ F]MA3: a CB₂ receptor agonist radiotracer for PET.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Non-invasive in vivo imaging of cannabinoid CB₂ receptors using PET is pursued to study neuroinflammation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the in vivo binding specificity of [¹⁸ F]MA3, a CB₂ receptor agonist, in a rat model with local overexpression of human (h) CB₂ receptors.

Methods

[¹⁸ F]MA3 was produced with good radiochemical yield and radiochemical purity. The radiotracer was evaluated in rats with local overexpression of hCB₂ receptors and in a healthy non-human primate using PET.

Key results

Ex vivo autoradiography demonstrated CB₂ -specific binding of [¹⁸ F]MA3 in rat hCB₂ receptor vector injected striatum. In a PET study, increas

SUBMITTER: Attili B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6487560 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature