Publications
389 results found
Ng B, Rowland HA, Wei T, et al., 2022, Neurons derived from individual early Alzheimer's disease patients reflect their clinical vulnerability, BRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 4
Erritzoe D, Godlewska BR, Rizzo G, et al., 2022, Brain Serotonin Release Is Reduced in Patients With Depression: A [11C]Cimbi-36 Positron Emission Tomography Study With a d-Amphetamine Challenge., Biol Psychiatry
BACKGROUND: The serotonin hypothesis of depression proposes that diminished serotonergic (5-HT) neurotransmission is causal in the pathophysiology of the disorder. Although the hypothesis is over 50 years old, there is no firm in vivo evidence for diminished 5-HT neurotransmission. We recently demonstrated that the 5-HT2A receptor agonist positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand [11C]Cimbi-36 is sensitive to increases in extracellular 5-HT induced by an acute d-amphetamine challenge. Here we applied [11C]Cimbi-36 PET to compare brain 5-HT release capacity in patients experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE) to that of healthy control subjects (HCs) without depression. METHODS: Seventeen antidepressant-free patients with MDE (3 female/14 male, mean age 44 ± 13 years, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score 21 ± 4 [range 16-30]) and 20 HCs (3 female/17 male, mean age 32 ± 9 years) underwent 90-minute dynamic [11C]Cimbi-36 PET before and 3 hours after a 0.5-mg/kg oral dose of d-amphetamine. Frontal cortex (main region of interest) 5-HT2A receptor nondisplaceable binding was calculated from kinetic analysis using the multilinear analysis-1 approach with the cerebellum as the reference region. RESULTS: Following d-amphetamine administration, frontal nondisplaceable binding potential (BPND) was significantly reduced in the HC group (1.04 ± 0.31 vs. 0.87 ± 0.24, p < .001) but not in the MDE group (0.97 ± 0.25 vs. 0.92 ± 0.22, not significant). ΔBPND of the MDE group was significantly lower than that of the HC group (HC: 15% ± 14% vs. MDE: 6.5% ± 20%, p = .041). CONCLUSIONS: This first direct assessment of 5-HT release capacity in people with depression provides clear evidence for dysfunctional serotonergic neurotransmission in depression by demonstrating reduced 5-HT release capacity in patients experiencing an MDE.
Halff EF, Natesan S, Bonsall DR, et al., 2022, Evaluation of Intraperitoneal [F-18]-FDOPA Administration for Micro-PET Imaging in Mice and Assessment of the Effect of Subchronic Ketamine Dosing on Dopamine Synthesis Capacity, MOLECULAR IMAGING, Vol: 2022
Mohamed MA, Zeng Z, Gennaro M, et al., 2022, Astrogliosis in aging and Parkinson’s disease dementia: a new clinical study with 11C-BU99008 PET, Brain Communications, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2632-1297
The role of astrogliosis in the pathology of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases has recently drawn great attention. Imidazoline-2 binding sites (I2BS) represent a possible target to map the distribution of reactive astrocytes. In this study, we use 11C-BU99008, an I2BS-specific PET radioligand, to image reactive astrocytes in vivo in healthy controls (HCs) andpatients with established Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD).Eighteen HCs (age: 45−78 years) and six patients with PDD (age: 64−77 years) had one 11C-BU99008 PET-CT scan with arterial input function. All subjects underwent one 3T MRI brain scan to facilitate the analysis of the PET-CT data and to capture individual cerebral atrophy. Regional 11C-BU99008 volumes of distribution (VT) were calculated for each subject by two-tissue compartmental modelling.Positive correlations between 11C-BU99008 VT values and age were found for all tested regions across the brain within HCs (p<0.05); furthermore, multiple regression indicated that aging affects 11C-BU99008 VT values in a region-specific manner. Independent samples t-test indicated that there was no significant group difference in 11C-BU99008 VT values betweenPDD (n=6; mean age = 71.97±4.66 years) and older HCs (n=9; mean age = 71.90±5.51 years).Our dataset shows that astrogliosis is common with aging in a region-specific manner. However, in this set-up, 11C-BU99008 PET cannot differentiate patients with PDD from healthy controls of similar age.
Venkataraman A, Mansur A, Rizzo G, et al., 2022, Widespread cell stress and mitochondrial dysfunction occur in patients with early Alzheimer’s Disease, Science Translational Medicine, Vol: 14, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 1946-6234
Cell stress and impaired oxidative phosphorylation are central to mechanisms of synaptic loss and neurodegeneration in the cellular pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, we quantified the in vivo expression of the endoplasmic reticulum stress marker, sigma 1 receptor (S1R), using [11C]SA4503 PET, the mitochondrial complex I (MC1) with [18F]BCPP-EF and the pre-synaptic vesicular protein SV2A with [11C]UCB-J in 12 patients with early AD and in 16 cognitively normal controls. We integrated these molecular measures with assessments of regional brain volumes and cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) arterial spin labelling. Eight patients with AD were followed longitudinally to estimate the rate of change of the physiological and structural pathology markers with disease progression. The patients showed widespread increases in S1R (≤ 27%) and regional reduction in MC1 (≥ -28%) and SV2A (≥ -25%) radioligand binding, brain volume (≥ -23%), and CBF (≥ -26%). [18F]BCPP-EF PET MC1 binding (≥ -12%) and brain volumes (≥ -5%) showed progressive reductions over 12-18 months, suggesting that they both could be used as pharmacodynamic indicators in early-stage therapeutics trials. Associations of reduced MC1 and SV2A and increased S1R radioligand binding with reduced cognitive performance in AD, although exploratory, suggested a loss of metabolic functional reserve with disease. Our study thus provides in vivo evidence for widespread, clinically relevant cellular stress and bioenergetic abnormalities in early AD.
Livingston NR, Calsolaro V, Hinz R, et al., 2022, Relationship between astrocyte reactivity, using novel C-11-BU99008 PET, and glucose metabolism, grey matter volume and amyloid load in cognitively impaired individuals, MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY, Vol: 27, Pages: 2019-2029, ISSN: 1359-4184
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- Citations: 3
Syvänen S, Gunn RN, Zhang L, 2022, Principles of PET and Its Role in Understanding Drug Delivery to the Brain, AAPS Advances in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Series, Pages: 329-352
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive medical imaging technique that enables the investigation of drug pharmacokinetics in vivo. The technique is especially powerful for pharmacokinetic studies of new CNS drug candidates as tissue samples from the brain are understandably difficult to obtain. The PET technique involves the administration of a radiolabeled molecule, often referred to as a PET radiotracer, whose spatiotemporal distribution can be measured using tomography. The radiolabeled molecule can be the drug under investigation, a structurally different molecule that binds to the same target as the drug candidate, or a molecule that interacts with a downstream target that is believed to be affected by the action of the drug candidate. Such radiolabeled probes allow PET to address several questions central for CNS drug development: Does the drug candidate reach the target site? Does the drug candidate interact with the desired target? Is the concentration of the drug at the target site sufficient to illicit an effect? What is the temporal nature of such an interaction? What is the relationship between the target site concentration and the administered dose and/or plasma concentrations?.
Reynolds S, Kazan SM, Anton A, et al., 2021, Kinetic modelling of dissolution dynamic nuclear polarisation C-13 magnetic resonance spectroscopy data for analysis of pyruvate delivery and fate in tumours, NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Vol: 35, ISSN: 0952-3480
Venkataraman A, Bishop C, Mansur A, et al., 2021, Imaging synaptic microstructure and synaptic loss in vivo in early Alzheimer’s Disease, Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Background Synaptic loss and neurite dystrophy are early events in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). We aimed to characterise early synaptic microstructural changes in vivo.Methods MRI neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were used to image cortical microstructure in both sporadic, late onset, amyloid PET positive AD patients and healthy controls (total n = 28). We derived NODDI measures of grey matter extracellular free water (FISO), neurite density (NDI) and orientation dispersion (ODI), which provides an index of neurite branching and orientation, as well as more conventional DTI measures of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean/axial/radial diffusivity (MD, AD, RD, respectively). We also performed [11C]UCB-J PET, which provides a specific measure of the density of pre-synaptic vesicular protein SV2A. Both sets of measures were compared to regional brain volumes.Results The AD patients showed expected relative decreases in regional brain volumes (range, -6 to - 23%) and regional [11C]UCB-J densities (range, -2 to -25%). Differences between AD and controls were greatest in the hippocampus. NODDI microstructural measures showed greater FISO (range, +26 to +44%) in AD, with little difference in NDI (range, -1 to +7%) and mild focal changes in ODI (range, -4 to +3%). Regionally greater FISO and lower [11C]UCB-J binding were correlated across grey matter in patients (most strongly in the caudate, r2 = 0.37, p = 0.001). FISO and DTI RD were strongly positively associated, particularly in the hippocampus (r2 = 0.98, p < 7.4 × 10−9). After 12-18 months we found a 5% increase in FISO in the temporal lobe, but little change across all ROIs in NDI and ODI. An exploratory analysis showed higher parietal lobe FISO was associated with lower language scores in people with AD.Conclusions We interpreted the increased extracellular free water as a possible consequence of glial activation. The dynamic range of disease
Mansur A, Rizzo G, Rabiner EA, et al., 2021, Simultaneous multi-parameter multi-tracer estimation with dynamic neuro-PET data, Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, Pages: 216-217, ISSN: 0271-678X
Rizzo G, Searle GE, Passchier J, et al., 2021, Determination of the 5-HT2C receptor fraction in the human hippocampus in vivo: A [C-11]Cimbi-36 PET study, Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, Pages: 234-236, ISSN: 0271-678X
Rabiner EA, Uz T, Mansur A, et al., 2021, Endogenous dopamine release in the human brain as a pharmacodynamic biomarker: evaluation of the new GPR139 agonist TAK-041 with [C-11]PHNO PET, NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 47, Pages: 1405-1412, ISSN: 0893-133X
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- Citations: 2
Veronese M, Rizzo G, Belzunce M, et al., 2021, Reproducibility of findings in modern PET neuroimaging: insight from the NRM2018 grand challenge, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Vol: 41, Pages: 2778-2796, ISSN: 0271-678X
The reproducibility of findings is a compelling methodological problem that the neuroimaging community is facing these days. The lack of standardized pipelines for image processing, quantification and statistics plays a major role in the variability and interpretation of results, even when the same data are analysed. This problem is well-known in MRI studies, where the indisputable value of the method has been complicated by a number of studies that produce discrepant results. However, any research domain with complex data and flexible analytical procedures can experience a similar lack of reproducibility. In this paper we investigate this issue for brain PET imaging. During the 2018 NeuroReceptor Mapping conference, the brain PET community was challenged with a computational contest involving a simulated neurotransmitter release experiment. Fourteen international teams analysed the same imaging dataset, for which the ground-truth was known. Despite a plurality of methods, the solutions were consistent across participants, although not identical. These results should create awareness that the increased sharing of PET data alone will only be one component of enhancing confidence in neuroimaging results and that it will be important to complement this with full details of the analysis pipelines and procedures that have been used to quantify data.
Whittington A, Gunn RN, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, 2021, TauIQ: a canonical image based algorithm to quantify tau PET scans., Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol: 62, Pages: 1292-1300, ISSN: 0161-5505
Recently, AmyloidIQ was introduced as a new canonical image-based algorithm to quantify amyloid PET scans and demonstrated increased power over traditional SUV ratio (SUVR) approaches when assessed in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. We build further on this mathematical framework to develop a TauIQ algorithm for the quantitative analysis of the more complex spatial distribution displayed by tau PET radiotracers. Methods: Cross-sectional (n = 615) and longitudinal (n = 149) 18F-flortaucipir data were obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative along with necessary adjunct amyloid PET and T1-weighted structural MRI data. A subset of these data were used to derive a chronological tau dataset, using AmyloidIQ analysis of associated amyloid PET data to calculate the subject's temporal position in the canonical AD disease process, from which canonical images for the nonspecific and specific binding components of 18F-flortaucipir in AD were calculated. These 2 canonical images were incorporated into the TauIQ algorithm that enables the quantification of both global and local tau outcome measures using an image-based regression and statistical parametric analysis of the initial residual image. Performance of the TauIQ algorithm was compared with SUVR approaches for cross-sectional analyses, longitudinal analyses, and correlation with clinical measures (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale [ADAS-Cog], Clinical Dementia Rating scale-sum of boxes [CDR-SB], and Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]). Results: TauIQ successfully calculated global tau load (TauL) in all 791 scans analyzed (range, -3.5% to 185.2%; mean ± SD, 23% ± 20.5%) with a nonzero additional local tau component being required in 31% of all scans (cognitively normal [CN], 22%; mild cognitive impairment [MCI], 35%; dementia, 72%). TauIQ was compared with the best SUVR approach in the cross-sectional analysis (TauL increase in effect size: CN- vs. CN+, +
Venkataraman A, Mansur A, Rizzo G, et al., 2021, Widespread cell stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in early Alzheimer’s Disease, Publisher: MedRxiv
Cell stress and impaired oxidative phosphorylation are central to mechanisms of synaptic loss and neurodegeneration in the cellular pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We quantified the in vivo density of the endoplasmic reticulum stress marker, the sigma 1 receptor (S1R) using [11C]SA4503 PET, as well as that of mitochondrial complex I (MC1) with [18F]BCPP-EF and the pre-synaptic vesicular protein SV2A with [11C]UCB-J in 12 patients with early AD and in 16 cognitively normal controls. We integrated these molecular measures with assessments of regional brain volumes and brain perfusion (CBF) measured with MRI arterial spin labelling. 8 AD patients were followed longitudinally to estimate rates of change with disease progression over 12-18 months. The AD patients showed widespread increases in S1R (≤ 27%) and regional decreases in MC1 (≥ -28%), SV2A (≥ -25%), brain volume (≥ -23%), and CBF (≥ -26%). [18F]BCPP-EF PET MC1 density (≥ -12%) and brain volumes (≥ -5%) were further reduced at follow up in brain regions consistent with the differences between AD patients and controls at baseline. Exploratory analyses showing associations of MC1, SV2A and S1R density with cognitive changes at baseline and longitudinally with AD, but not in controls, suggested a loss of metabolic functional reserve with disease. Our study thus provides novel in vivo evidence for widespread cellular stress and bioenergetic abnormalities in early AD and that they may be clinically meaningful.
Onwordi EC, Whitehurst T, Mansur A, et al., 2021, The relationship between synaptic density marker SV2A, glutamate and N-acetyl aspartate levels in healthy volunteers and schizophrenia: a multimodal PET and magnetic resonance spectroscopy brain imaging study, Translational Psychiatry, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-9, ISSN: 2158-3188
Glutamatergic excitotoxicity is hypothesised to underlie synaptic loss in schizophrenia pathogenesis, but it is unknown whether synaptic markers are related to glutamatergic function in vivo. Additionally, it has been proposed that N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) levels reflect neuronal integrity. Here, we investigated whether synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 A (SV2A) levels are related to glutamatergic markers and NAA in healthy volunteers (HV) and schizophrenia patients (SCZ). Forty volunteers (SCZ n = 18, HV n = 22) underwent [11C]UCB-J positron emission tomography and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) imaging in the left hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to index [11C]UCB-J distribution volume ratio (DVR), and creatine-scaled glutamate (Glu/Cr), glutamate and glutamine (Glx/Cr) and NAA (NAA/Cr). In healthy volunteers, but not patients, [11C]UCB-J DVR was significantly positively correlated with Glu/Cr, in both the hippocampus and ACC. Furthermore, in healthy volunteers, but not patients, [11C]UCB-J DVR was significantly positively correlated with Glx/Cr, in both the hippocampus and ACC. There were no significant relationships between [11C]UCB-J DVR and NAA/Cr in the hippocampus or ACC in healthy volunteers or patients. Therefore, an appreciable proportion of the brain 1H-MRS glutamatergic signal is related to synaptic density in healthy volunteers. This relationship is not seen in schizophrenia, which, taken with lower synaptic marker levels, is consistent with lower levels of glutamatergic terminals and/or a lower proportion of glutamatergic relative to GABAergic terminals in the ACC in schizophrenia.
Calsolaro V, Matthews PM, Donat CK, et al., 2021, Astrocyte reactivity with late onset cognitive impairment assessed in-vivo using 11C-BU99008 PET and its relationship with amyloid load, Molecular Psychiatry, Vol: 26, Pages: 5848-5855, ISSN: 1359-4184
11C-BU99008 is a novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracer that enables selective imaging of astrocyte reactivity in vivo. To explore astrocyte reactivity associated with Alzheimer’s disease, 11 older, cognitively impaired (CI) subjects and 9 age-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 18F-florbetaben and 11C-BU99008 PET. The 8 amyloid (Aβ)-positive CI subjects had higher 11C-BU99008 uptake relative to HC across the whole brain, but particularly in frontal, temporal, medial temporal and occipital lobes. Biological parametric mapping demonstrated a positive voxel-wise neuroanatomical correlation between 11C-BU99008 and 18F-florbetaben. Autoradiography using 3H-BU99008 with post-mortem Alzheimer’s brains confirmed through visual assessment that increased 3H-BU99008 binding localised with the astrocyte protein glial fibrillary acid protein and was not displaced by PiB or florbetaben. This proof-of-concept study provides direct evidence that 11C-BU99008 can measure in vivo astrocyte reactivity in people with late-life cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Our results confirm that increased astrocyte reactivity is found particularly in cortical regions with high Aβ load. Future studies now can explore how clinical expression of disease varies with astrocyte reactivity.
Marques TR, Natesan S, Rabiner EA, et al., 2021, Adenosine A(2A) receptor in schizophrenia: an in vivo brain PET imaging study, PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 239, Pages: 3439-3445, ISSN: 0033-3158
Bucci M, Savitcheva I, Farrar G, et al., 2021, A multisite analysis of the concordance between visual image interpretation and quantitative analysis of [F-18]flutemetamol amyloid PET images, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND MOLECULAR IMAGING, Vol: 48, Pages: 2183-2199, ISSN: 1619-7070
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- Citations: 6
Mansur A, Rabiner EA, Tsukada H, et al., 2021, Test-retest variability and reference region-based quantification of 18F-BCPP-EF for imaging mitochondrial complex I in the human brain, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Vol: 41, Pages: 771-779, ISSN: 0271-678X
Mitochondrial complex I (MC-I) is an essential regulator of brain bioenergetics and can be quantified in the brain using PET radioligand 18F-BCPP-EF. Here we evaluate the test-retest reproducibility of 18F-BCPP-EF in humans, and assess the use of a non-invasive quantification method (standardised uptake value ratio - SUVR). Thirty healthy volunteers had a 90-min dynamic 18F-BCPP-EF scan with arterial blood sampling, five of which received a second scan to be included in the test-retest analysis. Time-activity curves (TAC) were analysed using multilinear analysis 1 (MA1) and the two-tissue compartment model (2TC) to estimate volumes of distribution (VT). Regional SUVR-1 values were calculated from the 70 to 90-min TAC data using the centrum semiovale as a pseudo reference region, and compared to kinetic analysis-derived outcome measures. The mean absolute test-retest variability of VT ranged from 12% to 18% across regions. Both DVR-1and SUVR-1 had improved test-retest variability in the range 2%-7%. SUVR-1 was highly correlated with DVR-1 (r2 = 0.97, n = 30). In conclusion, 18F-BCPP-EF has suitable test-retest reproducibility and can be used to quantify MC-I in clinical studies.
Wadhwa P, Thielemans K, Efthimiou N, et al., 2021, PET image reconstruction using physical and mathematical modelling for time of flight PET-MR scanners in the STIR library, METHODS, Vol: 185, Pages: 110-119, ISSN: 1046-2023
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- Citations: 9
Ashok AH, Myers J, Frost G, et al., 2021, Acute acetate administration increases endogenous opioid levels in the human brain: A [C-11]carfentanil molecular imaging study, JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 35, Pages: 606-610, ISSN: 0269-8811
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Chen DL, Ballout S, Chen L, et al., 2020, Consensus Recommendations on the Use of F-18-FDG PET/CT in Lung Disease, JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE, Vol: 61, ISSN: 0161-5505
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- Citations: 4
Onwordi EC, Halff E, Whitehurst T, et al., 2020, The relationship between synaptic density marker SV2A and glutamate: a multimodal positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging study, 33rd Congress of the European-College-of-Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), Publisher: ELSEVIER, Pages: S296-S296, ISSN: 0924-977X
Wang G, Rahmim A, Gunn RN, 2020, PET Parametric Imaging: Past, Present, and Future, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON RADIATION AND PLASMA MEDICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 4, Pages: 663-675, ISSN: 2469-7311
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- Citations: 30
Roussakis AA, Gennaro M, Gordon MF, et al., 2020, A longitudinal PET study to assess the state of microglia activation in a Phase 2 study of Laquinimod as a treatment for Huntington's disease (LEGATO-HD), Movement-Disorder-Society (MDS) International Virtual Congress, Publisher: WILEY, Pages: S102-S102, ISSN: 0885-3185
Wilson H, Pagano G, de Natale ER, et al., 2020, Mitochondrial complex 1, sigma 1, and synaptic vesicle 2A in early drug-naive Parkinson's Disease, Movement Disorders, Vol: 35, Pages: 1416-1427, ISSN: 0885-3185
BackgroundDysfunction of mitochondrial energy generation may contribute to neurodegeneration, leading to synaptic loss in Parkinson's disease (PD). The objective of this study was to find cross‐sectional and longitudinal changes in PET markers of synaptic vesicle protein 2A, sigma 1 receptor, and mitochondrial complex 1 in drug‐naive PD patients.MethodsTwelve early drug‐naive PD patients and 16 healthy controls underwent a 3‐Tesla MRI and PET imaging to quantify volume of distribution of [11C]UCB‐J, [11C]SA‐4503, and [18F]BCPP‐EF for synaptic vesicle protein 2A, sigma 1 receptor, and mitochondrial complex 1, respectively. Nine PD patients completed approximately 1‐year follow‐up assessments.ResultsReduced [11C]UCB‐J volume of distribution in the caudate, putamen, thalamus, brain stem, and dorsal raphe and across cortical regions was observed in drug‐naive PD patients compared with healthy controls. [11C]UCB‐J volume of distribution was reduced in the locus coeruleus and substantia nigra but did not reach statistical significance. No significant differences were found in [11C]SA‐4503 and [18F]BCPP‐EF volume of distribution in PD compared with healthy controls. Lower brain stem [11C]UCB‐J volume of distribution correlated with Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III and total scores. No significant longitudinal changes were identified in PD patients at follow‐up compared with baseline.ConclusionsOur findings represent the first in vivo evidence of mitochondrial, endoplasmic reticulum, and synaptic dysfunction in drug‐naive PD patients. Synaptic dysfunction likely occurs early in disease pathophysiology and has relevance to symptomatology. Mitochondrial complex 1 and sigma 1 receptor pathology warrants further investigations in PD. Studies in larger cohorts with longer follow‐up will determine the validity of these PET markers to track disease progression. © 2020 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, In
Turton S, Myers J, Mick I, et al., 2020, Blunted endogenous opioid release following an oral dexamphetamine challenge in abstinent alcohol dependent individuals, Molecular Psychiatry, Vol: 25, Pages: 1749-1758, ISSN: 1359-4184
Addiction has been proposed as a ‘reward deficient’ state, which is compensated for with substance use. There is growing evidence of dysregulation in the opioid system, which plays a key role in reward, underpinning addiction. Low levels of endogenous opioids are implicated in vulnerability for developing alcohol dependence (AD) and high mu-opioid receptor (MOR) availability in early abstinence is associated with greater craving. This high MOR availability is proposed to be the target of opioid antagonist medication to prevent relapse. However, changes in endogenous opioid tone in AD are poorly characterised and are important to understand as opioid antagonists do not help everyone with AD. We used [11C]carfentanil, a selective MOR agonist positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand, to investigate endogenous opioid tone in AD for the first time. We recruited 13 abstinent male AD and 15 control participants who underwent two [11C]carfentanil PET scans, one before and one 3 h following a 0.5 mg/kg oral dose of dexamphetamine to measure baseline MOR availability and endogenous opioid release. We found significantly blunted dexamphetamine-induced opioid release in 5 out of 10 regions-of-interest including insula, frontal lobe and putamen in AD compared with controls, but no significantly higher MOR availability AD participants compared with HC in any region. This study is comparable to our previous results of blunted dexamphetamine-induced opioid release in gambling disorder, suggesting that this dysregulation in opioid tone is common to both behavioural and substance addictions.
Kocagoncu E, Quinn A, Firouzian A, et al., 2020, Tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease is linked to selective disruptions in neurophysiological network dynamics, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
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Kocagoncu E, Quinn A, Firouzian A, et al., 2020, Tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease is linked to selective disruptions in neurophysiological network dynamics, Neurobiology of Aging, Vol: 92, Pages: 141-152, ISSN: 0197-4580
Understanding the role of Tau protein aggregation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease is critical for the development of new Tau-based therapeutic strategies to slow or prevent dementia. We tested the hypothesis that Tau pathology is associated with functional organization of widespread neurophysiological networks. We used electro-magnetoencephalography with [18F]AV-1451 PET scanning to quantify Tau-dependent network changes. Using a graph theoretical approach to brain connectivity, we quantified nodal measures of functional segregation, centrality, and the efficiency of information transfer and tested them against levels of [18F]AV-1451. Higher Tau burden in early Alzheimer's disease was associated with a shift away from the optimal small-world organization and a more fragmented network in the beta and gamma bands, whereby parieto-occipital areas were disconnected from the anterior parts of the network. Similarly, higher Tau burden was associated with decreases in both local and global efficiency, especially in the gamma band. The results support the translational development of neurophysiological "signatures" of Alzheimer's disease, to understand disease mechanisms in humans and facilitate experimental medicine studies.
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