Cigarettes labeled with [11C]nicotine: formulation and administration for PET inhalation

The ultimate goal of this work was to relate nicotine kinetics in the brain after cigarette smoking to a feature of sensitization in drug addiction. To do this required a positron emission tomography study to measure the regional cerebral biodistribution kinetics of cigarette‐smoked nicotine. This in turn required a cigarette formulated with carbon‐11 labeled nicotine suitable for administration by single bolus inhalation. Here we report the development and validation of cigarettes formulated with [¹¹C]nicotine that were successfully used for single bolus administration by smoking. We also report measurements of nicotine delivery from smoked cigarettes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.