Fibrillar amyloid-beta (A␤) is found in the brains of many cognitively normal older people. Whether or not this reflects a predisposition to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unknown. We used Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) PET to characterize the relationship between fibrillar A␤ burden and this predisposition in cognitively normal older people at 3 mean levels of genetic risk for AD. Dynamic PiB PET scans, the Logan method, statistical parametric mapping, and automatically labeled regions of interest (ROIs) were used to characterize and compare cerebral-to-cerebellar PIB distribution volume ratios, reflecting fibrillar A␤ burden, in 28 cognitively normal persons (mean age, 64 years) with a reported family history of AD and 2 copies, 1 copy, and no copies of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) 4 allele. The 8 4 homozygotes, 8 heterozygotes, and 12 noncarriers did not differ significantly in terms of age, sex, or cognitive scores. Fibrillar A␤ was significantly associated with APOE 4 carrier status and 4 gene dose in AD-affected mean cortical, frontal, temporal, posterior cingulate-precuneus, parietal, and basal ganglia ROIs, and was highest in an additional homozygote who had recently developed mild cognitive impairment. These findings suggest that fibrillar A␤ burden in cognitively normal older people is associated with APOE 4 gene dose, the major genetic risk factor for AD. Additional studies are needed to track fibrillar A␤ accumulation in persons with different kinds and levels of AD risk; to determine the extent to which fibrillar A␤, alone or in combination with other biomarkers and risk factors, predicts rates of cognitive decline and conversion to clinical AD; and to establish the role of fibrillar A␤ imaging in primary prevention trials.apolipoprotein E ͉ Pittsburgh Compound B PET

Epidemiological studies suggest that elevated blood pressure (BP) in mid-life is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in late-life. In this preliminary study, we investigated the extent to which BP measurements are related to positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of fibrillar amyloid-beta burden using Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET measures of cerebral metabolic rate for glucose metabolism (CMRgl) in cognitively normal, late-middle-aged to older adult apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 homozygotes, heterozygotes and non-carriers. PiB PET results revealed that systolic BP (SBP) and pulse pressure (PP) were each positively correlated with cerebral-to-cerebellar PiB distribution volume ratio (DVR) in frontal, temporal and posterior-cingulate/precuneus regions, whereas no significant positive correlations were found between PiB DVRs and diastolic BP (DBP). FDG PET results revealed significant inverse correlations between each of the BP measures and lower CMRgl in frontal and temporal brain regions. These preliminary findings provide additional evidence that higher BP, likely a reflection of arterial stiffness, during late-mid-life may be associated with increased risk of presymptomatic AD.

An efficient preparation of N‐succinimidyl 4‐[18F]fluorobenzoate ([18F]SFB) based on a convenient three‐step, one‐pot procedure is described. [18F]Fluorination of the precursor ethyl 4‐(trimethylammonium triflate)benzoate gave ethyl 4‐[18F]fluorobenzoate. Saponification of the ethyl 4‐[18F]fluorobenzoate with aqueous tetrapropylammonium hydroxide yielded the corresponding 4‐[18F]fluorobenzoate salt ([18F]FBA), which was then treated with N,N,N,N′‐tetramethyl‐O‐(N‐succinimidyl)uronium hexafluorophosphate. The purified [18F]SFB was used for the labeling of Avastin™ (Bevacizumab) through [18F]fluorobenzoylation of the Avastin's α‐amino groups. The decay‐corrected radiochemical yields of [18F]SFB were as high as 44% (based on [18F]fluoride (n=10) with a synthesis time of less than 60 min. [18F]Avastin was produced in decay‐corrected radiochemical yields of up to 42% (n=5) within 30 min (based on [18F]SFB). The radiochemical purities of [18F]SFB and [18F]Avastin were greater than 95%. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.