Anesthesia and Preconditioning Induced Changes in Mouse Brain [18F] FDG Uptake and Kinetics

2-Deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) has been widely used for imaging brain metabolism. Tracer injection in anesthetized animals is a prerequisite for performing dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. Since preconditioning, as well as anesthesia, has been described to potentially influence brain [18F] FDG levels, this study evaluated how these variables globally and regionally affect both [18F] FDG uptake and kinetics in murine brain. Sixty-minute dynamic [18F] FDG PET scans were performed in adult male C57BL/6 mice anesthetized with isoflurane [control (in 100 % O2), in medical air, in 100 % O2 + insulin pre-treatment, and in 100 % O2 after 18 h fasting], ketamine/xylazine, sevoflurane, and chloral hydrate. An additional group was scanned after awake uptake. Blood glucose levels were determined, and data was analyzed by comparing percent injected dose per cc tissue (%ID/cc) and glucose influx rate and metabolic rate (MRGlu) calculated by Patlak plot. Ketamine/xylazine and chloral hydrate anesthesia induced a lower whole-brain uptake of [18F] FDG (2.86 ± 0.67 %ID/cc, p