Ascorbic acid transport via choroid plexus measured with 6-deoxy-6-[18F]fluoro-L-ascorbic acid PET
- 1Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 58 Zhongshan Er Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510080 China
- 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 628 Zhenyuan Road, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province 518107 China
Abstract
Background: Ascorbic acid, a crucial antioxidant, is transported from blood to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) via the choroid plexus (ChP). A noninvasive tool to visualize and quantify ascorbic acid transport process in the human brain is currently lacking. We aimed to determine whether 6-deoxy-6-[18F]fluoro-L-ascorbic acid ([18F]FAA) PET can visualize and quantify ascorbic acid transport from blood to CSF via the ChP in humans.
Methods: This prospective secondary analysis evaluated participants between May 2024 and September 2024. Eight participants underwent a 45-minute dynamic brain [18F]FAA PET/CT scan; 153 participants underwent a static [18F]FAA PET/CT scan. Tracer accumulation in ChP and CSF were measured in the lateral and fourth ventricles. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate the associated factors of [18F]FAA PET metrics.
Results: One hundred sixty-one participants (mean age, 48.0 years ± 15.7 [SD]; 90 women) were evaluated. Dynamic [18F]FAA PET showed rapid ChP tracer accumulation in the lateral and fourth ventricles, peaking at about 5 min post-injection followed by declining, while CSF [18F]FAA standardized uptake value progressively increased. The area under the curve of the time-activity curves from 0 to 40 min was significantly higher in the young group (<60 years, n = 4) than in the elderly group (≥ 60 years, n = 4) in the ChP. Multiple linear regression analyses showed age was independently and negatively associated with [18F]FAA accumulation in the ChP and CSF.
Conclusions: [18F]FAA PET is a non-invasive tool for visualizing and assessing choroid plexus ascorbic acid transport in humans.
Clinical trial number: (ChiCTR2300076126: http://www.chictr.org.cn/) with the Clinical Trial Registry (2023-09-25).
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026ascorbic,
title = {{Ascorbic acid transport via choroid plexus measured with 6-deoxy-6-[18F]fluoro-L-ascorbic acid PET}},
author = {Yuying Zhang and Xiaofeng Lin and Haoyue Deng and Yali Long and Tianhong Yang and Kunyuan Jiang and Songhan Ge and Qiao He and Bing Zhang and Ningyi Jiang and Zhihao Zha and Xiangsong Zhang},
journal = {Fluids and Barriers of the CNS},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ascorbic acid transport via choroid plexus measured with 6-deoxy-6-[18F]fluoro-L-ascorbic acid PET
AU - Yuying Zhang
AU - Xiaofeng Lin
AU - Haoyue Deng
AU - Yali Long
AU - Tianhong Yang
AU - Kunyuan Jiang
AU - Songhan Ge
AU - Qiao He
AU - Bing Zhang
AU - Ningyi Jiang
AU - Zhihao Zha
AU - Xiangsong Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/28
JO - Fluids and Barriers of the CNS
DO - 10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w
AB - Background: Ascorbic acid, a crucial antioxidant, is transported from blood to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) via the choroid plexus (ChP). A noninvasive tool to visualize and quantify ascorbic acid transport process in the human brain is currently lacking. We aimed to determine whether 6-deoxy-6-[18F]fluoro-L-ascorbic acid ([18F]FAA) PET can visualize and quantify ascorbic acid transport from blood to CSF via the ChP in humans. Methods: This prospective secondary analysis evaluated participants between May 2024 and September 2024. Eight participants underwent a 45-minute dynamic brain [18F]FAA PET/CT scan; 153 participants underwent a static [18F]FAA PET/CT scan. Tracer accumulation in ChP and CSF were measured in the lateral and fourth ventricles. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate the associated factors of [18F]FAA PET metrics. Results: One hundred sixty-one participants (mean age, 48.0 years ± 15.7 [SD]; 90 women) were evaluated. Dynamic [18F]FAA PET showed rapid ChP tracer accumulation in the lateral and fourth ventricles, peaking at about 5 min post-injection followed by declining, while CSF [18F]FAA standardized uptake value progressively increased. The area under the curve of the time-activity curves from 0 to 40 min was significantly higher in the young group (<60 years, n = 4) than in the elderly group (≥ 60 years, n = 4) in the ChP. Multiple linear regression analyses showed age was independently and negatively associated with [18F]FAA accumulation in the ChP and CSF. Conclusions: [18F]FAA PET is a non-invasive tool for visualizing and assessing choroid plexus ascorbic acid transport in humans. Clinical trial number: (ChiCTR2300076126: http://www.chictr.org.cn/) with the Clinical Trial Registry (2023-09-25). Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-026-00847-w.
SN - 2045-8118
ER -