Beta-amyloid imaging in dementia
10.12701/yujm.2018.35.1.1
- Author:
Kyung Ah CHUN
1
Author Information
1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. cka52@yumail.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Review
- From:Yeungnam University Journal of Medicine
2018;35(1):1-6
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with extracellular plaques, composed of amyloid-beta (Aβ), in the brain. Although the precise mechanism underlying the neurotoxicity of Aβ has not been established, Aβ accumulation is the primary event in a cascade of events that lead to neurofibrillary degeneration and dementia. In particular, the Aβ burden, as assessed by neuroimaging, has proved to be an excellent predictive biomarker. Positron emission tomography, using ligands such as ¹¹C-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B or ¹â¸F-labeled tracers, such as ¹â¸F-florbetaben, ¹â¸F-florbetapir, and ¹â¸F-flutemetamol, which bind to Aβ deposits in the brain, has been a valuable technique for visualizing and quantifying the deposition of Aβ throughout the brain in living subjects. Aβ imaging has very high sensitivity for detecting AD pathology. In addition, it can predict the progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD, and contribute to the development of disease-specific therapies.
