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J M Hoffman

Publications and source records attributed to J M Hoffman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

18F-labeled FECNT: a selective radioligand for PET imaging of brain dopamine transporters.

Fluorine-18 labeled 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-fluoroethyl)nort ropane (FECNT) was synthesized in the development of a dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging ligand for positron emission tomography (PET). The methods of radiolabeling and ligand synthesis of FECNT, and the results of the in vitro characterization and in vivo tissue distribution in rats and in vivo PET imaging in rhesus monkeys of [18F]FECNT are described. Fluorine-18 was introduced into 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(2-fluoroethyl)nort ropane (4) by preparation of 1-[18F]fluoro-2-tosyloxyethane (2) followed by alkylation of 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)nortropane (3) in 21% radiochemical yield (decay corrected to end of bombardment [EOB]). Competition binding in cells stably expressing the transfected human DAT serotonin transporter (SERT) and norepinephrine transporter (NET) labeled by [3H]WIN 35428, [3H]citalopram, and [3H]nisoxetine, respectively, indicated the following order of DAT affinity: GBR 12909 > CIT >> 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-(3-fluoropropyl) nortropane (FPCT) > FECNT. The affinity of FECNT for SERT and NET was 25- and 156-fold lower, respectively, than for DAT. Blocking studies were performed in rats with a series of transporter-specific agents and demonstrated that the brain uptake of [18F]FECNT was selective and specific for DAT-rich regions. PET brain imaging studies in monkeys demonstrated high [18F]FECNT uptake in the caudate and putamen that resulted in caudate-to-cerebellum and putamen-to-cerebellum ratios of 10.5 at 60 min. [18F]FECNT uptake in the caudate/putamen peaked in less than 75 min and exhibited higher caudate- and putamen-to-cerebellum ratios at transient equilibrium than reported for 11C-WIN 35,428, [11C]CIT/RTI-55, or [18F]beta-CIT-FP. Analysis of monkey arterial plasma samples using high performance liquid chromatography determined that there was no detectable formation of lipophilic radiolabeled metabolites capable of entering the brain. In equilibrium displacement experiments with CIT in rhesus monkeys, radioactivity in the putamen was displaced with an average half-time of 10.2 min. These results indicate that [18F]FECNT is a radioligand that is superior to 11C-WIN 35,428, [11C]CIT/RTI-55, [18F]beta-CIT-FP, and [18F]FPCT for mapping brain DAT in humans using PET.

Animals↗

Role of nitric oxide in the regulation of acute and chronic inflammation.

Recent studies by a number of different laboratories have implicated nitric oxide (NO) as an important modulator of a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. A hallmark of inflammation is the adhesion of leukocytes to post-capillary venular endothelium and the infiltration of leukocytes into the tissue interstitium. Leukocyte adhesion and infiltration is known to be dependent on interaction of the leukocytes with the endothelial cell surface via a class of glycoproteins collectively known as endothelial cell adhesion molecules (ECAMs). Several recent studies suggest that NO may modulate cytokine-induced ECAM expression in cultured endothelial cells in vitro by regulating the activation of nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). This discussion reviews some of the more recent studies that assess the role of the different NOS isoforms on the inflammatory response in vivo.

Animals↗

Alterations in the functional anatomy of working memory in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors used a functional neuroimaging study with a working memory probe to investigate the pathophysiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Their goal was to compare regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes related to working memory in adults with and without ADHD. METHOD: Using [(15)O]H(2)O positron emission tomography (PET) studies, the authors compared the sites of neural activation related to working memory in six adult men diagnosed with ADHD and six healthy men without ADHD who were matched in age and general intelligence. RESULTS: Task-related changes in rCBF in the men without ADHD were more prominent in the frontal and temporal regions, but rCBF changes in men with ADHD were more widespread and primarily located in the occipital regions. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest the use of compensatory mental and neural strategies by subjects with ADHD in response to a disrupted ability to inhibit attention to nonrelevant stimuli and the use of internalized speech to guide behavior.

Adult↗

FDG PET imaging in patients with pathologically verified dementia.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to confirm with pathologic verification 2 beliefs related to Alzheimer's disease (AD): (a) the long-standing impression that bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism, as noted on FDG PET imaging, is the metabolic abnormality associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and (b) that the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of the metabolic pattern of bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism allows differentiation between other degenerative causes of dementia. METHODS: Twenty two individuals (8 women, 14 men) with difficult-to-characterize memory loss or dementia (using standard clinical criteria), and who eventually received pathologic confirmation of diagnosis, were evaluated. FDG PET brain scans were obtained and visually graded by an experienced nuclear medicine physician as to the presence of classic bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism as seen in Alzheimer's type dementia. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of the metabolic pattern of bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism were determined using pathologic diagnosis as the gold standard. RESULTS: The clinical diagnosis of possible or probable AD was determined as the primary cause of dementia in 12 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of the clinical diagnosis for probable AD were 63% and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the clinical diagnosis for possible and probable AD were 75% and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism being associated with AD were 93%, 63%, and 82%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism is indeed the classic metabolic abnormality associated with AD. Furthermore, in individuals with dementia whose FDG PET scans indicated a metabolic pattern other than bilateral temporo-parietal hypometabolism, a cause of dementia other than AD should be suspected. These observations may be of clinical importance in differentiating dementia syndromes. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of FDG PET are acceptable as tests to be used in the evaluation of dementia and particularly to confirm the clinical suspicion of AD.

Aged↗

Acute blood flow changes and efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation in partial epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine possible sites of therapeutic action of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), by correlating acute VNS-induced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) alterations and chronic therapeutic responses. BACKGROUND: We previously found that VNS acutely induces rCBF alterations at sites that receive vagal afferents and higher-order projections, including dorsal medulla, somatosensory cortex (contralateral to stimulation), thalamus and cerebellum bilaterally, and several limbic structures (including hippocampus and amygdala bilaterally). METHODS: VNS-induced rCBF changes were measured by subtracting resting rCBF from rCBF during VNS, using [O-15]water and PET, immediately before ongoing VNS began, in 11 partial epilepsy patients. T-statistical mapping established relative rCBF increases and decreases for each patient. Percent changes in frequency of complex partial seizures (with or without secondary generalization) during three months of VNS compared with pre-VNS baseline, and T-thresholded rCBF changes (for each of the 25 regions of previously observed significant CBF change), were rank ordered across patients. Spearman rank correlation coefficients assessed associations of seizure-frequency change and t-thresholded rCBF change. RESULTS: Seizure-frequency changes ranged from 71% decrease to 12% increase during VNS. Only the right and left thalami showed significant associations of rCBF change with seizure-frequency change. Increased right and left thalamic CBF correlated with decreased seizures (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Increased thalamic synaptic activities probably mediate some antiseizure effects of VNS. Future studies should examine neurotransmitter-receptor alterations in reticular and specific thalamic nuclei during VNS.

Adult↗

A confrontational naming task produces congruent increases and decreases in PET and fMRI.

This work uses the well-established (by PET) confrontation naming task to compare PET and fMRI in a cognitive activation experiment. The signal changes from this task are much less than the changes caused by visual or motor activation tasks used in previous comparisons. ANOVA methods adjusted for multiple comparisons were used to determine significant changes in signal between confrontation naming and figure size discrimination tasks. All 17 significantly increased regions (confrontation naming signal greater) seen on one modality were increased on both modalities. Ten of 13 regions that were significantly decreased on one modality were decreased on the other. Three mismatched regions showed a significant decrease on one modality and a nonsignificant increase on the other. This study could not detect a consistent difference in activation site location between PET and fMRI.

Adult↗

The LANL model 8823 whole-body TLD and associated dose algorithm.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory Model 8823 whole-body TLD has been designed to perform accurate dose estimates for beta, photon, and neutron radiations that are encountered in pure calibration, mixed calibration, and typical field radiation conditions. The radiation energies and field types for which the Model 8823 dosimeter is capable of measuring are described. The Model 8823 dosimeter has been accredited for all performance testing categories in the Department of Energy Laboratory Accreditation Program for external dosimetry systems. The philosophy used in the design of the Model 8823 dosimeter and the associated dose algorithm is to isolate the responses due to beta, photon, and neutron radiations; obtain radiation quality information; and make functional adjustments to the elemental readings to estimate the dose equivalent at 7, 300, and 1,000 mgcm(-2), representing the required repoting quantities for shallow, lens-of-the-eye, and deep dose, respectively.

Algorithms↗

Butanol is superior to water for performing positron emission tomography activation studies.

[15(O)]Butanol has been shown to be superior to [15(O)]water for measuring cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography. This work demonstrates that it is also superior for performing activation studies. Data were collected under three conditions: a visual confrontation animal-naming task, nonsense figure size discrimination, and a nonvisual darkroom control task. Time-activity curves (TAC) were obtained for regions known to be activated by the confrontation naming task to compare absolute uptake and the different kinetics of the two tracers. Also, t statistic maps were calculated from the data of 10 subjects for both tracers and compared for magnitude of change and size of activated regions. Peak uptake in the whole-brain TAC were similar for the two tracers. For all regions and conditions, the washout rate of [15(O)]butanol was 41% greater than that of [15(O)]water. At a threshold of 0, the [15(O)]water and [15(O)]butanol percent difference (nonnormalized) and t statistic (global normalization) images are nearly identical, indicating that the same property is being measured with both tracers. The [15(O)]butanol parametric images displayed at a threshold of /t/ = 5 look similar to the [15(O)]water parametric maps displayed at a threshold of /t/ = 4, which is consistent with the observation that t statistic values in [15(O)]butanol images are generally greater. The t statistic values were equal when the [15(O)]butanol parametric map was created from any subset of 6 subjects and the [15(O)]water parametric map was created from all 10 subjects. Fewer subjects need to be studied with [15(O)]butanol to reach the same statistical power as an [15(O)]water-based study.

Adult↗

Neural evidence linking visual object enumeration and attention.

Visual object enumeration is rapid and accurate for four or fewer items but slow and error-prone for over four items. This dichotomy has recently been linked to visual attentional phenomena by findings suggesting that 'subitizing' of small sets of objects is preattentive whereas 'counting' of over four items demands spatial shifts of attention. We evaluated this link at a neural level, using H2 15-O positron emission tomography to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow while subjects enumerated the number of target vertical bars that 'popped out' of a 16-bar visual display consisting of both horizontal and vertical bars. Relative to a condition with a single target, subitizing (one to four targets) activated foci in the occipital extrastriate cortex, consistent with involvement of early, preattentive visual processes. Relative to subitizing, counting (five to eight targets) activated a widespread network of brain regions, including multiple foci implicated in shifting visual attention-large regions of the superior parietal cortex bilaterally and a focus in the right inferior frontal cortex. These results offer the first direct neural support for mapping the subitizing-counting dichotomy onto separable processes mediating preattentive vision and shifts of visual attention.

Adolescent↗

Synthesis and evaluation of [18F]1-amino-3-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid to image brain tumors.

UNLABELLED: We have developed a new tumor-avid amino acid, 1-amino-3-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (FACBC), labeled with 18F for nuclear medicine imaging. METHODS: [18F]FACBC was prepared with high specific activity (no carrier added [NCA]) and was evaluated for its potential in tumor localization. A comparative study was performed for [18F]FACBC and [18F]2-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in which the uptake of each agent in 9L gliosarcoma (implanted intracerebrally in Fisher 344 rats) was measured. In addition, the first human PET study of [18F]FACBC was performed on a patient with residual glioblastoma multiforme. Quantitative brain images of the patient were obtained by using a Siemens 921 47-slice PET imaging system. RESULTS: In the rat brain, the initial level of radioactivity accumulation after injection of [18F]FACBC was low (0.11 percentage injected dose per gram [%ID/g]) at 5 min and increased slightly to 0.26 %ID/g at 60 min. The tumor uptake exhibited a maximum at 60 min (1.72 %ID/g), resulting in a tumor-to-brain ratio increase of 5.58 at 5 min to 6.61 at 60 min. In the patient, the uptake of [18F]FACBC in the tumor exhibited a maximum concentration of 146 nCi/mL at 35 min after injection. The uptake of radioactivity in the normal brain tissue was low, 21 nCi/mL at 15 min after injection, and gradually increased to 29 nCi/mL at 60 min after injection. The ratio of tumor to normal tissue was 6 at 20 min after injection. The [18F]FACBC PET scan showed intense uptake in the left frontal region of the brain. CONCLUSION: The amino acid FACBC can be radiofluorinated for clinical use. [18F]FACBC is a potential PET tracer for tumor imaging.

Animals↗

The neural basis of naming impairments in Alzheimer's disease revealed through positron emission tomography.

The naming impairments in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been attributed to a variety of cognitive processing deficits, including impairments in semantic memory, visual perception, and lexical access. To further understand the underlying biological basis of the naming failures in AD, the present investigation examined the relationship of various classes of naming errors to regional brain measures of cerebral glucose metabolism as measured with 18 F-Fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). Errors committed on a visual naming test were categorized according to a cognitive processing schema and then examined in relationship to metabolism within specific brain regions. The results revealed an association of semantic errors with glucose metabolism in the frontal and temporal regions. Language access errors, such as circumlocutions, and word blocking nonresponses were associated with decreased metabolism in areas within the left hemisphere. Visuoperceptive errors were related to right inferior parietal metabolic function. The findings suggest that specific brain areas mediate the perceptual, semantic, and lexical processing demands of visual naming and that visual naming problems in dementia are related to dysfunction in specific neural circuits.

Journal Article↗

An examination of individual differences in the relationship between interpersonal stress and disease activity among women with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: The effects of interpersonal stress on disease activity were examined for married women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who differ in the quality of their relationships with their spouses. METHODS: Measures of interpersonal events were collected weekly for 12 weeks and related to disease activity through a comparison of clinician ratings and immune markers taken at baseline and during a highly stressful week for 20 RA patients. Individual differences in marital relationship variables and illness characteristics were used to predict group differences in how stress affected disease activity. RESULTS: Significant elevations in total T cell activation (DR + CD3 cells), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), and clinician's global ratings of disease activity were found during a week of significant interpersonal stress. However, women with better spousal relationships did not show increases in disease activity following an episode of interpersonal stress. In addition, patients taking low-dose prednisone showed greater reactivity to stress than patients not currently using glucocorticoid treatment. CONCLUSION: The results are consistent with the hypothesis that disease activity in RA increases following increases in interpersonal stress and that women with stronger marital relationships were less vulnerable to those stressors.

Adult↗