Ligand-Independent Vitamin D Receptor Actions Essential for Keratinocyte Homeostasis in the Skin.

Recently, we demonstrated that the alopecia observed in vitamin D receptor gene-deficient (-KO) rats is not seen in rats with a mutant VDR(R270L/H301Q), which lacks ligand-binding ability, suggesting that the ligand-independent action of VDR plays a crucial role in maintaining the hair cycle. Since -KO rats also showed abnormalities in the skin, the relationship between alopecia and skin abnormalities was examined. To clarify the mechanism of actions of vitamin D and VDR in the skin, protein composition, and gene expression patterns in the skin were compared among -KO, -R270L/H301Q, and wild-type (WT) rats.

In Vivo Stability Improvement of Astatobenzene Derivatives by Introducing Neighboring Substituents.

At is a promising radiohalogen for targeted α therapy. However, some astatinated compounds undergo deastatination in vivo, leading to unintended astatine accumulation in nontarget tissues. Recently, a group reported that the in vivo stability of an astato group on an alkyl group could be improved by placing specific substituents around the astato group.

The 13th World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology congress (WFNMB 2022): summarize the past half century and discuss the next half century of WFNMB.

The 13th World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology congress (WFNMB 2022) was held in Kyoto and Kanazawa, Japan in September 2022, approximately half a century after the first World Congress of Nuclear Medicine held in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan. In this paper, we describe the road to hosting another WFNMB congress in Japan, including the historic election for WFNMB 2022, the state of WFNMB 2022 in Kyoto, and the post-congress symposium in Kanazawa. This congress, themed "Summarize the past half century and discuss the next half century of WFNMB," was successful and strongly encouraged doctors and researchers to develop future research and clinical practice in nuclear medicine.

Quantifying lower limb skeletal muscle activity changes after 3 months of intrinsic foot muscle training: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Foot rock-paper-scissors and towel-gathering exercises are widely used for isometric strengthening of intrinsic foot muscles. An initial trial demonstrated that foot rock-paper-scissors and towel-gathering exercises affected skeletal muscles associated with the medial longitudinal arch and toe pressure force, respectively. However, no quantitative reports of interosseous muscle activity after continuous training exist.

Differences in the Renal Accumulation of Radiogallium-Labeled (Glu) Peptides Containing Different Optical Isomers of Glutamic Acid.

Acidic amino acid peptides have a high affinity for bone. Previously, we demonstrated that radiogallium complex-conjugated oligo-acidic amino acids possess promising properties as bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals. Here, to elucidate the effect of stereoisomers of Glu in Glu-containing peptides [(Glu)] on their accumulation in the kidney, the biodistributions of [Ga]Ga-,'-bis-[2-hydroxy-5-(carboxyethyl)benzyl]ethylenediamine-,'-diacetic acid-conjugated (l-Glu) ([Ga]Ga-HBED-CC-(l-Glu)), [Ga]Ga-HBED-CC-(d-Glu), [Ga]Ga-HBED-CC-(dl-Glu), and [Ga]Ga-HBED-CC-(d-Glu-l-Glu) were compared.

Evaluating the diagnostic efficacy of whole-body MRI versus I-mIBG/I-mIBG imaging in metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

This study aimed to compare tumor lesion detectability and diagnostic accuracy of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) and radioiodine-labeled meta-iodo-benzylguanidine (mIBG) imaging techniques in patients with metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL). This retrospective study included 13 patients had pheochromocytoma and 5 had paraganglioma, who were all suspected of having metastatic tumors. Each patient underwent WB-MRI and I-mIBG as a pretreatment screening for I-mIBG therapy.

Sympathetic I-metaiodobenzylguanidine index for Lewy body disease: probability-based diagnosis and identifying patients exempt from late imaging.

Objective: We aimed to establish a practical diagnostic index for Lewy body diseases (LBD), such as Parkinson's disease and dementia, with Lewy bodies in outpatient settings and criteria for exempting patients from late imaging.

Methods: We acquired early and late I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) images from 108 consecutive patients with suspected LBD and standardized heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratios for collimator conditions. Exclusions included young-onset Parkinson's disease (age < 50 years) and genetic transthyretin-type amyloidosis.

Absolute quantitation of sympathetic nerve activity using [I] metaiodobenzylguanidine SPECT-CT in neurology.

Background And Purpose: The ability of [I]metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) sympathetic nerve imaging with three-dimensional (3D) quantitation to clinically diagnose neurological disorders has not been evaluated. This study compared absolute heart counts calculated as mean standardized uptake values (SUV) using conventional planar imaging and assessed the contribution of [I]MIBG single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-CT to the diagnosis of neurological diseases.

Methods: Seventy-two patients with neurological diseases were consecutively assessed using early and delayed [I]MIBG SPECT-CT and planar imaging.

Evaluation of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT: a Phase 1 clinical study in Japanese patients with primary, recurrent, or suspected recurrent prostate cancer.

Background: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiopharmaceuticals allow whole-body imaging to detect prostate cancer (PC). Positron emission tomography imaging using gallium-68 (Ga)-PSMA-11 has been shown to have a favorable safety and tolerability profile and high diagnostic performance. The study evaluates the safety and pharmacokinetics of Ga-PSMA-11 in Japanese patients with primary, recurrent, or suspected recurrent prostate cancer.

Optimizing the pharmacokinetics of an At-labeled RGD peptide with an albumin-binding moiety via the administration of an albumin-binding inhibitor.

Purpose: A probe for targeted alpha therapy (TAT) using the RGD peptide (Ga-DOTA-K([At]APBA)-c(RGDfK) ([At]1)) with albumin-binding moiety (ABM) was recently developed. [At]1 highly accumulated in tumors and significantly inhibited tumor growth in U-87 MG tumor-bearing mice. However, high [At]1 retention in blood may cause critical adverse events, such as hematotoxicity.

Manual on the proper use of the At-labeled PSMA ligand ([At]PSMA-5) for clinical trials of targeted alpha therapy (1st edition).

Recently, an astatine-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligand ([At]PSMA-5) has been developed for the targeted alpha therapy of patients with prostate cancer. This manual delineates its physicochemical characteristics to assist healthcare professionals in understanding the α-ray-emitting drug of [At]PSMA-5 when administered to patients. The safety considerations regarding the handling and use of this drug in clinical trials are outlined, based on the proper usage manual of previous studies.

Flare phenomenon visualized by Tc-bone scintigraphy has prognostic value for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of the flare phenomenon in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) using the bone scan index (BSI) derived from Tc-methylenediphosphonate (MDP) bone scintigraphy images.

Methods: We categorized 72 patients from the PROSTAT-BSI registry with mCRPC who were followed-up for 2 years after starting docetaxel chemotherapy to groups based on pre-chemotherapy BSI values of < 1, 1-4, and > 4. We assessed the effects of the flare phenomenon (defined as a > 10% increase in the BSI within 3 months of starting chemotherapy, followed by > 10% improvement within the next 3 months) on survival using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard analyses.

Three-Dimensional Heart Segmentation and Absolute Quantitation of Cardiac I-metaiodobenzylguanidine Sympathetic Imaging Using SPECT/CT.

: A three-dimensional (3D) approach to absolute quantitation of I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) sympathetic nerve imaging using single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) / computed tomography (CT) is not available. Therefore, we calculated absolute cardiac counts and standardized uptake values (SUVs) from images of 72 consecutive patients with cardiac and neurological diseases using I-MIBG SPECT/CT and compared them with conventional planar quantitation. We aimed to develop new methods for 3D heart segmentation and the quantitation of these diseases.

Influence of spill-over for Tc images and the effect of scatter correction for dual-isotope simultaneous acquisition with Tc and F using small-animal SPECT-PET/CT system.

A dual-isotope simultaneous acquisition (DISA) of Tc and F affects the image quality of Tc by crosstalk and spill-over from F. We demonstrated the influence of spill-over and crosstalk on image quality and its correction effect for DISA SPECT with Tc and F. A fillable cylindrical chamber of 30 mm with NEMA-NU4 image quality phantom was filled with Tc only or a mixed Tc and F solution (C).

Myocardial perfusion imaging with retrospective gating and integrated correction of attenuation, scatter, respiration, motion, and arrhythmia.

Background: Absolute quantitative myocardial perfusion SPECT requires addressing of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in conjunction with providing image quality sufficient for lesion detection and characterization. Iterative reconstruction methods enable the mitigation of the root causes of image degradation. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of a new SPECT/CT method with integrated corrections attempting to enable absolute quantitative cardiac imaging (xSPECT Cardiac; xSC).

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy disease burden quantified using Tc-pyrophosphate SPECT/CT: volumetric parameters versus SUVmax ratio at 1 and 3 hours.

Background: Various parameters derived from technetium-99m pyrophosphate (Tc-PYP) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) correlate with the severity of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). However, the optimal metrics and image acquisition timing required to quantify the disease burden remain uncertain.

Methods And Results: We retrospectively evaluated Tc-PYP SPECT/CT images of 23 patients diagnosed with ATTR-CM using endomyocardial biopsies and/or gene tests.

Astatine-211-labeled aza-vesamicol derivatives as sigma receptor ligands for targeted alpha therapy.

Introduction: As sigma receptors are abundantly expressed on different types of cancer cells, several radiolabeled sigma receptor ligands have been developed for cancer imaging and therapy. Previously, we synthesized and evaluated radioiodinated aza-vesamicol derivatives, [I]pICNV, [I]mICN5V, and [I]mICN5V. They accumulated in tumors, and [I]mICN5V and [I]mICN5V showed higher tumor to non-target tissue ratios than [I]pICNV.

A case of frequent hypoglycemic attacks successfully controlled with capecitabine plus temozolomide and Lu-DOTATATE peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in a patient with recurrent pancreatic insulinoma.

A 59-year-old woman with metastatic pancreatic insulinoma, having undergone several treatment regimens including sunitinib, everolimus, lanreotide and streptozocin plus 5-fluorouracil, was admitted to our hospital because of frequent hypoglycemic attacks. These were refractory to medical treatment using diazoxide and required frequent daily intravenous glucose infusions. She was started on capecitabine and temozolomide (CAPTEM), followed by initiation of Lu-DOTATATE peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).

[A Report on Health Resource Use of Internal Radiation Therapy with I-MIBG (2 Survey)].

Internal radiation therapy using Iodine-131 metaiodobenzylguanidine (I-MIBG) for neuroblastoma has been discussed whether a special application scheme for off-labeled drugs called "Kouchi-Shinsei" could be applied to neuroblastoma or not by the Evaluation Committee on Unapproved or Off-labeled Drug with High Medical Needs (the Committee); if the Committee determines that Kouchi-Shinsei is applicable, neuroblastoma indication is expected to be regulatory approved within a year. Since a NHI medical technical fee is not yet set for neuroblastoma, the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine surveyed health resource use via a questionnaire survey of medical institution that has conducted a Japanese Advanced Medical Care B clinical study in neuroblastoma. Results showed that the necessary total cost per patient is 1,847,451 JPY when calculated based on the Draft Proposal for Medical Examination Value (Ver.

Synthesis and evaluation of a deltic guanidinium analogue of a cyclic RGD peptide.

A guanidine group is abundantly found in natural products and drugs. Guanidine has the highest basicity among many common functional groups in nature. Because of its high basicity, it generally exists as a protonated guanidinium and functions as a cationic hydrogen bond donor.