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Neuroimaging in Psychiatric Drug Development and Radioligand Development for New Targets

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PET and SPECT in Psychiatry

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Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging modality used to measure physiological and biochemical markers in brain. Neuroreceptors, transporters, or enzymes are visualized and quantified with appropriate PET radioligands. In the development of drugs for treatment of psychiatric disorders, there are three major applications of PET. First, PET microdosing is used for pharmacokinetic evaluation. By injection of minute amount of radiolabeld drug, information about brain exposure can be obtained already at the early phase of drug development. Another application is receptor occupancy studies. Here, the competition between a drug and a PET radioligand binding is examined at the target sites. The competitive effect is useful to have when selecting the doses tested in further clinical trials. The third application is to use imaging biomarkers for diagnosis or efficacy. To widen the use of PET, the development of the PET radioligands for new targets is vital. Several criteria and characteristics such as binding affinity, selectivity and lipophilicity are important when selecting new PET radioligand candidates for targets in brain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Psychiatric Research, Karolinska University Hospital, R5:02, Stockholm, SE-171 76, Sweden

    Akihiro Takano, Christer Halldin & Lars Farde

Authors
  1. Akihiro Takano
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  2. Christer Halldin
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  3. Lars Farde
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akihiro Takano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Rudi A.J.O. Dierckx

  2. Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Applied Sciences Offenburg, Offenburg, Germany

    Andreas Otte

  3. Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Erik F. J. de Vries

  4. Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Aren van Waarde

  5. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Groningen, The Netherlands

    Johan A. den Boer

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Takano, A., Halldin, C., Farde, L. (2014). Neuroimaging in Psychiatric Drug Development and Radioligand Development for New Targets. In: Dierckx, R., Otte, A., de Vries, E., van Waarde, A., den Boer, J. (eds) PET and SPECT in Psychiatry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40384-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40384-2_1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40383-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40384-2

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