Radionuclide brain imaging and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still a clinical challenge,growing evidence indicated radionu-elide neuroimaging, especially positron emission computed tomography (PET), would be promising for the diagnosis of early AD. Studies showed reduction of cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism occurring at the parietotemporal lobes of AD patients at the early stage. A study showed that PET detected AD with an accuracy greater than 90% 2. 5 years earlier than clinical diagnostic methods using electroencephalography, structural imaging studies and so on. Recent investigation aimed at senile plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that were hallmark pathologies accompanying the neurodegeneration involved in AD. Some researchers used 2-(l-(6-[(2-18F]fluoroethyl) (methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl)ethylidene) malononitrile (C18F]FDDNP) , in conjunction with PET to determine the localization and load of NFTs and SPs in the brains of living AD patients. Monitoring SPs and NFTs development is expected to facilitate diagnostic of AD patients and assist in response-monitoring during experimental treatments.