Molecular Imaging in Neurodegenerative Diseases

ABSTRACT

Neurodegenerative diseases are highly morbid and widespread in the nation with aged population. Since these are progressive and irreversible diseases, early detection and differentiation of the disease are important for possible therapeutic intervention. Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are the most frequent and costly devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Recent advances of molecular imaging, especially positron emission tomography (PET) technique, allows non-invasive evaluation of not only regional cerebral metabolism or perfusion, but also the change of neurotransmission and presence of abnormal protein such as beta amyloid. In Parkinsonism, dopamine transporter and vesicular monoamine transporter imaging are useful in the diagnosis and evaluation of the disease progression since these provide information about the integrity of presynaptic striatal dopaminergic neurons. In Alzheimer s disease, beta-amyloid imaging can assess the amyloid deposition. It improves early diagnosis and possibility of a presymptomatic diagnostic biomarker; improves understanding of the natural history of amyloid deposition; and has the capability to directly measure the effects of newly developed anti-amyloid therapies. Cholinergic and microglial imaging can be also useful in the early diagnosis of dementia and improves understanding of insights into pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, the ability of molecular imaging to identify and quantify cerebral pathology has significant implications for early detection, differential diagnosis, and therapeutic monitoring in neurodegenerative diseases.