PET Radiotracers for Molecular Imaging in Dementia

Title:PET Radiotracers for Molecular Imaging in Dementia

Volume: 6 Issue: 4

Author(s): Aylin Baskin, Panteleimon Giannakopoulos, Osman Ratib, Yann Seimbille, Frederic Assal, Daniela Perani and Valentina Garibotto

Affiliation:

Keywords: Dementia, biomarkers, glucose metabolism, amyloid, tau protein, synuclein, neurotransmission.

Abstract: Molecular imaging with various biomarkers plays a significant role in the diagnostic assessment of patients with dementing disorders, by detecting functional and pathophysiologic changes in the brain. PET imaging, in particular, allows the measurements of different molecular targets, such as functional markers of neurodegeneration (glucose metabolism), markers for pathological aggregates (such as amyloid, tau and synuclein aggregates) and neuroinflammation, and also markers of several neurotransmission systems. In the current view, neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the development of pathologic changes that play a different role in disease onset and evolution, often starting long before the onset of clinically detectable impairment. Molecular imaging represents thus a unique tool to collect relevant information contributing to accurate diagnosis, treatment and response monitoring. In this article, we review the current literature focusing on the PET radiotracers used for molecular imaging in dementia.

Cite this article as:

Baskin Aylin, Giannakopoulos Panteleimon, Ratib Osman, Seimbille Yann, Assal Frederic, Perani Daniela and Garibotto Valentina, PET Radiotracers for Molecular Imaging in Dementia, Current Radiopharmaceuticals 2013; 6 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874471006666131126223411