- Van Valkenburgh, Juno;
- Duro, Marlon;
- Burnham, Erica;
- Chen, Quan;
- Wang, Shaowei;
- Tran, Jenny;
- Kerman, Bilal;
- Liu, Xiaodan;
- Sta Maria, Naomi;
- Zanderigo, Francesca;
- Croteau, Etienne;
- Rapoport, Stanley;
- Cunnane, Stephen;
- Jacobs, Russell;
- Yassine, Hussein;
- Chen, Kai;
- Hwang, Sung Hee
Dysreglulated brain arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism is involved in chronic inflammation and is influenced by apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) genotype, the strongest genetic risk factor of late-onset Alzheimers disease (AD). Visualization of AA uptake and distribution in the brain can offer insight into neuroinflammation and AD pathogenesis. Here we present a novel synthesis and radiosynthesis of 20-[18F]fluoroarachidonic acid ([18F]-FAA) for PET imaging using a convergent route and a one-pot, single-purification radiolabeling procedure, and demonstrate its brain uptake in human ApoE4 targeted replacement (ApoE4-TR) mice. By examining p38 phosphorylation in astrocytes, we found that fluorination of AA at the ω-position did not significantly alter its biochemical role in cells. The brain incorporation coefficient (K*) of [18F]-FAA was estimated via multiple methods by using an image-derived input function from the right ventricle of the heart as a proxy of the arterial input function and brain tracer concentrations assessed by dynamic PET-MR imaging. This new synthetic approach should facilitate the practical [18F]-FAA production and allow its translation into clinical use, making investigations of dysregulation of lipid metabolism more feasible in the study of neurodegenerative diseases.