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In vivo imaging of astrocytosis in Alzheimer’s disease: an 11C-L-deuteriodeprenyl and PIB PET study

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Astrocytosis is an important feature of the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet there is currently no way of detecting this phenomenon in vivo.

Methods

In this study we examine the retention of the positron emission tomography (PET) tracer 11C-L-deuteriodeprenyl (DED), thought to bind activated astrocytes, in 9 patients with moderate to severe AD compared with 11 healthy controls. As a measure of amyloid load, 11C-labelled Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) retention was determined.

Results

Results show a significantly higher 11C-L-DED retention in the frontal (35.1% increase, p = 0.001), parietal (35.2%, p = 0.001), temporal (30.9%, p = 0.0001) and medial temporal lobes (22.3%, p = 0.001) in AD compared to healthy controls after blood flow correction. DED retention in the sensorimotor and occipital cortices, and in white matter and subcortical structures, did not differ between groups. There was a moderate but statistically significant (r = 0.492, p = 0.01) correlation between DED and PIB retention values.

Conclusion

Our conclusion is that DED may serve as an in vivo marker for astrocytosis in AD, providing a window into intermediate processes between amyloidosis and neuronal loss and a means of monitoring immunotherapy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of Uppsala Imanet for their dedication and professionalism in performing this study, the patients and their relatives for their participation, Ass. Prof. Elisabet Englund for helpful comments and Michael Schöll for the suggestion to correct the DED binding with the blood flow, represented by the intercept.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Medicine, Lund University, c/o Cognitive Medicine, University Hospital, 221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Alexander Frizell Santillo

  2. Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics, Uppsala University, Uppsala Science Park, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden

    Alexander Frizell Santillo, Lars Lannfelt & Lena Kilander

  3. Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Juan Pablo Gambini & Henry Engler

  4. Departments of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, Uppsala University, Box 576, 751 23, Uppsala, Sweden

    Bengt Långström

  5. Helsinki University Hospital, Faltskargatan 12, 000HNS, Helsinki, Finland

    Luohija Ulla-Marja

  6. Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden

    Luohija Ulla-Marja

  7. Uruguayan Centre of Molecular Imaging (CUDIM), A. Ricaldoni, 2010, 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Juan Pablo Gambini & Henry Engler

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  1. Alexander Frizell Santillo
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Correspondence to Alexander Frizell Santillo.

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Santillo, A.F., Gambini, J.P., Lannfelt, L. et al. In vivo imaging of astrocytosis in Alzheimer’s disease: an 11C-L-deuteriodeprenyl and PIB PET study. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 38, 2202–2208 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-011-1895-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-011-1895-9

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