Today, one of the main diagnostic tools for Alzheimers disease is positron emission tomography (PET), an imaging method in which tracers are injected to visualize specific pathological processes in the brain. “PET includes injecting patients with low-level radioactive tracers that vanish within a few hours.
They are designed to bind to the human molecules that we wish to identify, making them noticeable with the PET tomographs,” explains Valentina Garibotto, Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine and Head Physician in the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at the HUG, who directed this research study.
” Specific tracers for amyloid exist for 2 decades, and tracers to keep track of glucose metabolism, which indicates the brains ability to utilize its energy resources properly, have long existed. Nevertheless, Alzheimers illness is intricate and these two strategies are insufficient to offer all the answers.”
Comparing imaging strategies
Flortaucipir is a radiotracer that binds to the tau protein. It was established by a pharmaceutical company and authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020. It enables the detection of tau build-up as well as its distribution in the brain to precisely examine its function in the clinical symptom of the disease.
Scientists from the UNIGE and the HUG desired to identify which imaging modality– amyloid PET, glucose metabolic process PET, or tau PET– would best anticipate future cognitive decrease due to Alzheimers illness. Around 90 participants were hired at the HUG Memory Centre.
” Our results reveal that while the different PET procedures were all connected with the presence of cognitive symptoms, verifying their role as strong indicators of Alzheimers illness, tau PET was the very best to anticipate the rate of cognitive decline, even in individuals with minimal signs,” sums up Cecilia Boccalini, a Ph.D. student in Professor Garibottos team and first author of this study.
Detecting specific variations
The presence of tau goes hand in hand with clinical symptoms. It has been more difficult to establish imaging methods to visualize tau, primarily since of its lower concentration and especially complex structure.
New drugs targeting the tau protein likewise look promising. “Similarly, we are beginning to map the distribution of tau in order to comprehend how its location in the different regions of the brain affects signs.”
Certainly, the causes and different phases of the disease are showing to be much less consistent than previously thought, and private vulnerability to the very same phenomena needs to be much better comprehended.
These results are a strong argument in favor of including tau PET into the routine medical assessment to examine specific prognosis and select the most suitable restorative method for each client.
Referral: “The effect of tau deposition and hypometabolism on cognitive impairment and longitudinal cognitive decline” by Cecilia Boccalini, Federica Ribaldi, Ines Hristovska, Annachiara Arnone, Débora Elisa Peretti, Linjing Mu, Max Scheffler, Daniela Perani, Giovanni B. Frisoni and Valentina Garibotto, 9 August 2023, Alzheimers & & Dementia.DOI: 10.1002/ alz.13355.
Tau imaging with 18F-Flortaucipir PET in Alzheimers illness. The figure reveals a prototypical tau build-up pattern, gotten by comparing tau load of patients with Alzheimers illness vs healthy controls.
A team from UNIGE-HUG showcases the worth of imaging in recognizing tau protein in the brain, a predictor of cognitive decline due to Alzheimers disease.
Alzheimers illness is a typical neurodegenerative condition that leads to a steady decrease in memory and independence. Its identified by the build-up of damaging proteins in the brain, specifically amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Due to the quiet development of pathology over decades, really early diagnosis is of utmost importance to be able to act as early as possible in the illness procedure.
Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) have actually shown that tau PET– an unique imaging technique for picturing the tau protein– can anticipate cognitive decrease in clients much better than the imaging strategies generally utilized.
These outcomes, released in Alzheimers & & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association, argue in favor of the rapid introduction of tau PET into the medical routine to supply patients with early and customized solutions.
Tau imaging with 18F-Flortaucipir PET in Alzheimers disease. The figure reveals a prototypical tau accumulation pattern, obtained by comparing tau load of patients with Alzheimers disease vs healthy controls. The blue-to-white color scale suggests more pronounced tau loads, with pink-white locations representing those with the greatest accumulation. It allows the detection of tau accumulation as well as its circulation in the brain to exactly examine its function in the scientific symptom of the illness.
It has been more hard to establish imaging methods to envision tau, mainly since of its lower concentration and especially intricate structure.