Radiopharmaceuticals for Assessment of Altered Metabolism and Biometal Fluxes in Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease with Positron Emission Tomography

Abstract

Aging is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are changes of brain metabolism and biometal fluxes due to brain aging, which may play a role in pathogenesis of AD. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a versatile tool for tracking alteration of metabolism and biometal fluxes due to brain aging and AD. Age-dependent changes in cerebral glucose metabolism can be tracked with PET using 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG), a radiolabeled glucose analogue, as a radiotracer. Based on different patterns of altered cerebral glucose metabolism, 18F-FDG PET was clinically used for differential diagnosis of AD and Frontotemporal dementia (FTD). There are continued efforts to develop additional radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers for assessment of age-dependent changes of various metabolic pathways and biometal fluxes due to brain aging and AD with PET. Elucidation of age-dependent changes of brain metabolism and altered biometal fluxes is not only significant for a better mechanistic understanding of brain aging and the pathophysiology of AD, but also significant for identification of new targets for the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of AD.

Editorial: Radiopharmaceuticals, Imaging Techniques and Clinical Applications in Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…PET is a useful imaging modality for molecular imaging of metabolic changes in neurodegenerative disease, thanks to its high sensitivity (2). Chen et al show that brain network and abnormal hemispheric asymmetry analyses reveal differences in glucose metabolic distribution among three dementia subtypes, including AD, PD dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).…”