Research reportA programmable smoke delivery device for PET imaging with cigarettes containing 11C-nicotine

- A new smoke delivery device is developed for PET studies of nicotine kinetics.
- The device minimizes puff variations existing with earlier smoking apparatuses.
- Use of the device does not alter brain nicotine kinetics in smokers.
- The device introduces enhanced behavior monitoring and safety features.

IntroductionPET imaging with 11C-nicotine-loaded cigarettes is a valuable tool to directly assess fast nicotine kinetics and its neuropharmacological role in tobacco dependence. To eliminate variations among puffs inhaled by subjects, this work aimed to develop a programmable smoke delivery device (SDD) to produce highly reproducible and adjustable puffs of cigarette smoke for PET experiments.New methodThe SDD was built around a programmable syringe pump as a smoking machine to draw a puff of smoke from a 11C-nicotine-loaded cigarette and make it available for a subject to take the smoke into the mouth and then inhale it during PET data acquisition. Brain nicotine time activity curves and total body absorbed 11C-nicotine doses (TAD) were measured in smokers who inhaled a single puff of smoke via the SDD from a 11C-nicotine-loaded cigarette.ResultsNearly identical brain nicotine kinetics were observed between participants who inhaled a puff of smoke through the SDD and those who inhaled directly from a cigarette.Comparison with existing methodsThis new device minimizes puff variations that exist with earlier smoke delivery apparatuses which could introduce confounding factors.ConclusionsThe SDD is effective in delivering 11C-nicotine from the study cigarettes. Despite a 2-s increase in aging of smoke delivered through the SDD versus smoke taken directly from a cigarette, the difference in brain nicotine kinetics after 11C-nicotine delivery with and without use of the SDD is negligible. This refined device may be useful for future research on the deposition and pharmacokinetics of nicotine inhaled with tobacco smoke.