This report describes the first human study of a novel amyloid-imaging positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, termed Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB), in 16 patients with diagnosed mild AD and 9 controls. Compared with controls, AD patients typically showed marked retention of PIB in areas of association cortex known to contain large amounts of amyloid deposits in AD. In the AD patient group, PIB retention was increased most prominently in frontal cortex (1.94-fold, p = 0.0001). Large increases also were observed in parietal (1.71-fold, p = 0.0002), temporal (1.52-fold, p = 0.002), and occipital (1.54-fold, p = 0.002) cortex and the striatum (1.76-fold, p = 0.0001). PIB retention was equivalent in AD patients and controls in areas known to be relatively unaffected by amyloid deposition (such as subcortical white matter, pons, and cerebellum). Studies in three young (21 years) and six older healthy controls (69.5 +/- 11 years) showed low PIB retention in cortical areas and no significant group differences between young and older controls. In cortical areas, PIB retention correlated inversely with cerebral glucose metabolism determined with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose. This relationship was most robust in the parietal cortex (r = -0.72; p = 0.0001). The results suggest that PET imaging with the novel tracer, PIB, can provide quantitative information on amyloid deposits in living subjects.

J. Neurochem. (2010) 114, 784–794. Abstract Positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands that bind selectively to β‐amyloid plaques (Aβ) are promising imaging tools aimed at supporting the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and the evaluation of new drugs aiming to modify amyloid plaque load. For extended clinical use, there is a particular need for PET tracers labeled with fluorine‐18, a radionuclide with 110 min half‐life allowing for central synthesis followed by wide distribution. The development of fluorinated radioligands is, however, challenging because of the lipophilic nature of aromatic fluorine, rendering fluorinated ligands more prone to have high non‐specific white matter binding. We have here developed the new benzofuran‐derived radioligand containing fluorine, AZD4694 that shows high affinity for β‐amyloid fibrils in vitro (Kd = 2.3 ± 0.3 nM). In cortical sections from human Alzheimer’s disease brain [3H]AZD4694 selectively labeled β‐amyloid deposits in gray matter, whereas there was a lower level of non‐displaceable binding in plaque devoid white matter. Administration of unlabeled AZD4694 to rat showed that it has a pharmacokinetic profile consistent with good PET radioligands, i.e., it quickly entered and rapidly cleared from normal rat brain tissue. Ex vivo binding data in aged Tg2576 mice after intravenous administration of [3H]AZD4694 showed selective binding to β‐amyloid deposits in a reversible manner. In Tg2576 mice, plaque bound [3H]AZD4694 could still be detected 80 min after i.v. administration. Taken together, the preclinical profile of AZD4694 suggests that fluorine‐18 labeled AZD4694 may have potential for PET‐visualization of cerebral β‐amyloid deposits in the living human brain.

The presence of β‐amyloid plaques in brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and serves as a biomarker for confirmation of diagnosis postmortem. Positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands such as Pittsburgh compound B ([11C]‐2‐(3‐fluoro‐4‐methylamino‐phenyl)‐benzothiazol‐6‐ol) (PIB) binds selectively to β‐amyloid and are promising new tools supporting the clinical diagnoses of AD. In addition, such methodology may be useful for evaluation of new drugs aiming at reduction of amyloid plaque load. The objective of this study is to develop a new amyloid selective PET radioligand with higher signal‐to‐background ratio when compared with existing amyloid PET ligands. The lead compound, AZD2184, (2‐[6‐(methylamino)pyridin‐3‐yl]‐1,3‐benzothiazol‐6‐ol) was found to have high affinity for amyloid fibrils in vitro (Kd: 8.4 ± 1.0 nM). Two minutes after i.v. administration in rats, about 1% of the dose was in brain. In vitro autoradiography on cortical brain sections from amyloid‐beta precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) mice and AD patients showed that while [3H]AZD2184 and [3H]PIB are mutually displaceable, [3H]AZD2184 displays a higher signal‐to‐background ratio primarily by virtue of lower background binding levels. The ratio of binding ability in prefrontal cortex (high plaque load) to subcortical white matter (background) was 4.5 for [3H]AZD2184 and 0.8 for [3H]PIB at 1 nM. In adjacent cortical sections from APP/PS1 mouse as well as from AD cortical tissue, [3H]AZD2184 and antibodies to human β‐amyloid labeled identical structures. In vivo administration of [3H]AZD2184 to APP/PS1 mice further showed that [3H]AZD2184 labels amyloid deposits with low non‐specific background binding. Taken together, the pre‐clinical profile of AZD2184 in relation to the reference ligand PIB, suggests that 11C‐labeled AZD2184 is a potential radioligand for PET‐visualization of β‐amyloid deposits in the living human brain.

Vinpocetine, administered intravenously in humans, readily passes the blood-brain barrier and enters the brain. Its regional uptake and distribution in the brain is heterogeneous, indicating binding to specific sites. The brain regions showing increased uptake in the human brain correspond to those in which vinpocetine has been shown to induce elevated metabolism and blood flow. These observations support the hypothesis that vinpocetine has direct neuronal actions in the human brain.

Desmethyl‐raclopride was synthesized via a straightforward, three‐step synthetic approach and used for the preparation of [11C]raclopride from [11C]methyl triflate. Conditions for the radiolabelling were optimized to obtain a simple and reproducible procedure suitable for automation. [11C]Raclopride was prepared with an average radiochemical yield of 55–65% (decay corrected, based on starting [11C]methyl triflate) in a total synthesis time (including purification and formulation of product) of 35 min. The radiolabelling procedure used significantly less precursor, avoided the use of DMSO, and was shorter compared to the standard radiolabelling procedure with [11C]methyl iodide. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.