PET-Based Human Dosimetry of 68Ga-NODAGA-Exendin-4, a Tracer for β-Cell Imaging.

68Ga-NODAGA-exendin-4 is a promising tracer for β-cell imaging using PET/CT. Possible applications include preoperative visualization of insulinomas and discrimination between focal and diffuse forms of congenital hyperinsulinism. There is also a significant role for this tracer in extending our knowledge on the role of β-cell mass in the pathophysiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes by enabling noninvasive quantification of tracer uptake as a measure for β-cell mass. Calculating radiation doses from this tracer is important to assess its safety for use in patients (including young children) with benign diseases and healthy individuals.

Methods

Six patients with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia were included. After intravenous injection of 100 MBq of the tracer, 4 successive PET/CT scans were obtained at 30, 60, 120, and 240 min after injection. Tracer activity in the pancreas, kidneys, duodenum, and remainder of the body were determined, and time-integrated activity coefficients for the measured organs were calculated. OLINDA/EXM software, version 1.1, was applied to calculate radiation doses using the reference adult male and female models and to estimate radiation doses to children.

Results

The mean total effective dose for adults was very low (0.71 ± 0.07 mSv for a standard injected dose of 100 MBq). The organ with the highest absorbed dose was the kidney (47.3 ± 10.2 mGy/100 MBq). The estimated effective dose was 2.32 ± 0.32 mSv for an injected dose of 20 MBq in newborns. This dose decreased to 0.77 ± 0.11 mSv/20 MBq for 1-y-old children and 0.59 ± 0.05 mSv for an injected dose of 30 MBq in 5-y-old children.

Conclusion

Our human PET/CT-based dosimetric calculations show that the effective radiation doses from the novel tracer 68Ga-NODAGA-exendin-4 are very low for adults and children. The doses are lower than reported for other polypeptide tracers such as somatostatin analogs (2.1-2.6 mSv/100 MBq) and are beneficial for application as a research tool, especially when repeated examinations are needed.