Yufen Chen1, Hong I. Wan2, John
P. O'Reardon3, Marc Korczykowski1, Ze wang1,
Jiongjiong Wang1, John A. Detre1
1Center of Functional Neuroimaging,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Clinical
Translational Medicine, Pfizer Inc, Collegeville , PA, United States; 3Department
of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Arterial
spin labeling (ASL) is a favorable alternative to
blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD)based pharmacological MRI (phMRI) as
it offers an easily interpreted, quantitative measurement of cerebral blood
flow (CBF). We investigate the feasibility of ASL phMRI to detect the effects
of a single orally administered dose of citaloprama commonly used
antidepressantin healthy subjects. Our results reveal a significant
drug-induced reduction in CBF within the amygdala. This result is in
agreement with prior studies that show a correlation between amygdala
function and depression, and indicates that ASL phMRI is a valuable tool for
clinical trials.
Keywords