An increasing collection of imaging technologies makes it possible to differentiate treatment responders from nonresponders based on genetic variation. This chapter will review some of the imaging technologies currently available in nuclear medicine to visualize drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. Some of the commonly used techniques to detect radiation-emitting compounds are the two-dimensional scintigraphy and the three-dimensional single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) which both detect photons using a gamma camera, and the three-dimensional positron emission tomography (PET), which detect the decay of positron-emitting radionuclides. Current examples include visualization of functional effects of genetic variants, and these provide proof of concept for imaging in pharmacogenetics as a tool to improve efficacy and safety of drugs.
Keywords: Gene variants; Nuclear medicine; Pharmacogenetics; Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacology; Polymorphism; Positron emission tomography.
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