Microglial activation and amyloid deposition in mild cognitive impairment
A PET study
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Abstract
Background: Activated microglia may play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD) as they cluster around beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques. They are, therefore, a potential therapeutic target in both AD and its prodrome amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Objective: To characterize in vivo with 11C-(R)-PK11195 and 11C-PIB PET the distribution of microglial activation and amyloid deposition in patients with amnestic MCI.
Methods: Fourteen subjects with MCI had 11C-(R)-PK11195 and 11C-PIB PET with psychometric tests.
Results: Seven out of 14 (50%) patients with MCI had increased cortical 11C-PIB retention (p < 0.001) while 5 out of 13 (38%) subjects with MCI showed increased 11C-(R)-PK11195 uptake. The MCI subgroup with increased 11C-PIB retention also showed increased cortical 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding (p < 0.036) though this increase only remained significant in frontal cortex after a correction for multiple comparisons. There was no correlation between regional levels of 11C-(R)-PK11195 and 11C-PIB binding in individual patients with MCI: only three of the five MCI cases with increased 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding had increased levels of 11C-PIB retention.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that, while amyloid deposition and microglial activation can be detected in vivo in around 50% of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), these pathologies can occur independently. The detection of microglial activation in patients with MCI suggests that anti-inflammatory therapies may be relevant to the prevention of AD.
Glossary
- Aβ=
- beta-amyloid;
- AD=
- Alzheimer disease;
- BP=
- binding potential;
- MCI=
- mild cognitive impairment;
- MMSE=
- Mini-Mental State Examination;
- PBBS=
- peripheral benzodiazepine binding site;
- ROI=
- region of interest;
- SD=
- standard deviation;
- SRTM=
- simplified reference tissue model.
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