Data from: Long-term test–retest reliability of striatal and extrastriatal dopamine D2/3 receptor binding: study with [11C]raclopride and high-resolution PET

We measured the long-term test–retest reliability of [11C]raclopride
binding in striatal subregions, the thalamus and the cortex using the
bolus-plus-infusion method and a high-resolution positron emission
scanner. Seven healthy male volunteers underwent two positron emission
tomography (PET) [11C]raclopride assessments, with a 5-week retest
interval. D2/3 receptor availability was quantified as binding potential
using the simplified reference tissue model. Absolute variability (VAR)
and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values indicated very good
reproducibility for the striatum and were 4.5%/0.82, 3.9%/0.83, and
3.9%/0.82, for the caudate nucleus, putamen, and ventral striatum,
respectively. Thalamic reliability was also very good, with VAR of 3.7%
and ICC of 0.92. Test-retest data for cortical areas showed good to
moderate reproducibility (6.1% to 13.1%). Our results are in line with
previous test–retest studies of [11C]raclopride binding in the striatum. A
novel finding is the relatively low variability of [11C]raclopride
binding, providing suggestive evidence that extrastriatal D2/3 binding can
be studied in vivo with [11C]raclopride PET to be verified in future
studies.