Combination of Astrogliosis and Phosphorylated Tau for the Preclinical Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease Using 3-Dimensional Stereotactic Surface Projection Images With 18 F-THK5351.

The Alzheimer disease (AD) brain is characterized microscopically by the presence of extracellular amyloid plaques and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles consisting of phosphorylated tau aggregations. 18 F-THK5351 is a first-generation PET tau tracer that also binds to monoamine oxidase B, which represents astrogliosis, and is useful to evaluate some non-AD neurodegenerative disorders. We examined the utility of 18 F-THK5351 in preclinical AD using 3-dimensional stereotactic surface projection images optimized for its pathological accumulation by comparison with a normal dataset.

Automated semi-quantitative amyloid PET analysis technique without MR images for Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: Although beta-amyloid (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET) images are interpreted visually as positive or negative, approximately 10% are judged as equivocal in Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, we aimed to develop an automated semi-quantitative analysis technique using F-flutemetamol PET images without anatomical images.

Methods: Overall, 136 cases of patients administered F-flutemetamol were enrolled.

Determination of optimal regularization factor in Bayesian penalized likelihood reconstruction of brain PET images using [ F]FDG and [ C]PiB.

Purpose: The Bayesian penalized likelihood (BPL) reconstruction algorithm, Q.Clear, can achieve a higher signal-to-noise ratio on images and more accurate quantitation than ordered subset-expectation maximization (OSEM). The reconstruction parameter (β) in BPL requires optimization according to the radiopharmaceutical tracer.

First clinical assessment of [F]MC225, a novel fluorine-18 labelled PET tracer for measuring functional P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier.

Objective: 5-(1-(2-[F]fluoroethoxy))-[3-(6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydro-1H-isoquinolin-2-yl)-propyl]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalen ([F]MC225) is a selective substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), possessing suitable properties for measuring overexpression of P-gp in the brain. This is the first-in-human study to examine safety, radiation dosimetry and P-gp function at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of [F]MC225 in healthy subjects.

Methods: [F]MC225 biodistribution and dosimetry were determined in 3 healthy male subjects, using serial 2 h and intermittent 4 and 6 h whole-body PET scans acquired after [F]MC225 injection.

Visualization of Motor Cortex Involvement by 18F-THK5351 PET Potentially Strengthens Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) involves both upper motor neurons (UMNs) and lower motor neurons. The detection of UMN involvement, a core component of ALS criteria, is primarily dependent on neurological examination because of a lack of definitive biomarkers. We present the 18F-THK5351 PET images of a 76-year-old man diagnosed with ALS comorbid with Alzheimer disease, demonstrating marked accumulation of 18F-THK5351 in the bilateral precentral gyri.

Voxel-based Specific Regional Analysis System for Alzheimer's Disease (VSRAD) on 3-tesla Normal Database: Diagnostic Accuracy in Two Independent Cohorts with Early Alzheimer's Disease.

Voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's disease (VSRAD) software is widely used in clinical practice in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The existing VSRAD is based on the normal database with 1.5-tesla MRI scans (VSRAD-1.

[Cingulate Island Sign].

The Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) Consortium refined its recommendations for the clinical diagnosis of DLB last year. The generalized low uptake of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/positron emission tomography (PET) perfusion/metabolism scan with reduced occipital activity with or without the cingulate island sign (CIS) in FDG-PET imaging was described as a supportive biomarker of DLB. CIS shows that brain metabolism in the posterior cingulate of patients with DLB is relatively preserved compared with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Dissociation of Tau Deposits and Brain Atrophy in Early Alzheimer's Disease: A Combined Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

The recent advent of tau-specific positron emission tomography (PET) has enabled assessment of tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, because PET scanners have limited spatial resolution, the measured signals of small brain structures or atrophied areas are underestimated by partial volume effects (PVEs). The aim of this study was to determine whether partial volume correction (PVC) improves the precision of measures of tau deposits in early AD.

Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation Preserves Blood Flow in the Prefrontal Brain of Elderly People Carrying APOE e4.

In a previously reported double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT), we demonstrated that daily supplementation with anserine (750 mg) and carnosine (250 mg) improves brain blood flow and memory function in elderly people. Here, we conducted a sub-analysis of MRI data and test scores from the same RCT to determine whether anserine/carnosine supplementation specifically benefits elderly people carrying the APOE e4 allele, which is a risk gene for accelerated brain aging and for the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. We collected data from 68 participants aged 65 years or older who received anserine/carnosine supplementation (ACS) or placebo for 12 months.

Japanese multicenter database of healthy controls for [I]FP-CIT SPECT.

Purpose: The aim of this multicenter trial was to generate a [I]FP-CIT SPECT database of healthy controls from the common SPECT systems available in Japan.

Methods: This study included 510 sets of SPECT data from 256 healthy controls (116 men and 140 women; age range, 30-83 years) acquired from eight different centers. Images were reconstructed without attenuation or scatter correction (NOACNOSC), with only attenuation correction using the Chang method (ChangACNOSC) or X-ray CT (CTACNOSC), and with both scatter and attenuation correction using the Chang method (ChangACSC) or X-ray CT (CTACSC).

A structural MRI study of cholinergic pathways and cognition in multiple sclerosis.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) in the cholinergic pathways are associated with cognitive performance in Alzheimer's disease. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the volume reduction of cholinergic pathways and cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Thirty-two MS patients underwent a brain MRI and cognitive measurements including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J).

Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation Suppresses the Expression of the Inflammatory Chemokine CCL24 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Elderly People.

Our goal was to determine whether anserine/carnosine supplementation (ACS) suppresses chemokine levels in elderly people. In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, volunteers were assigned to the ACS or placebo group (1:1). Sixty healthy elderly volunteers (active, = 30; placebo, = 30) completed the study.

Correlations between dopamine transporter density measured by I-FP-CIT SPECT and regional gray matter volume in Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by a selective degeneration of dopamine neurons. The relationship between dopamine transporter (DAT) density and gray matter volume has been unclear. Here we investigated the voxelwise correlation between gray matter volume and DAT binding measured by I-N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carboxymethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane (I-FP-CIT) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT; DaTscan™ imaging) in PD.

Regional tau deposition and subregion atrophy of medial temporal structures in early Alzheimer's disease: A combined positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging study.

Introduction: Molecular imaging and selective hippocampal subfield atrophy are a focus of recent Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. Here, we investigated correlations between molecular imaging and hippocampal subfields in early AD.

Methods: We investigated 18 patients with early AD and 18 healthy control subjects using C-Pittsburgh compound-B (PIB) positron emission tomography (PET) and F-THK5351 PET and automatic segmentation of hippocampal subfields with high-resolution T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

Topics of nuclear medicine research in Europe.

Last year in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, we introduced some recent nuclear medicine research conducted in Japan. This was favorably received by European readers in the main. This year we wish to focus on the Annals of Nuclear Medicine on some of the fine nuclear medicine research work executed in Europe recently.

Validation of the cingulate island sign with optimized ratios for discriminating dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer's disease using brain perfusion SPECT.

Objective: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is often cited as the second most common dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is clinically important to distinguish DLB from AD because specific side effects of antipsychotic drugs are limited to DLB. The relative preservation of cingulate glucose metabolism in the posterior cingulate gyri versus that in the precuni, known as the cingulate island sign (CIS), in patients with DLB compared with AD is supposed to be highly specific for diagnosing DLB.

Thalamic hypoperfusion and disrupted cerebral blood flow networks in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: Arterial spin labeling and graph theoretical analysis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate interictal cerebral blood flow (CBF) distributions and graph theoretical networks in idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) using arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging and anatomical covariance methods of graph theoretical analysis.

Material And Methods: We recruited 19 patients with IGE and 19 age-/gender-matched healthy controls. Their CBF images were obtained by pseudo-continuous ASL imaging and compared using statistical parametric mapping 8 software (SPM8) and Graph Analysis Toolbox (GAT).