PET imaging of human brain gliosis using Imidazoline2 (I2) binding sites: potential biomarker for Alzheimer's disease

影响大脑的疾病，如痴呆症，花费了NHS和国家数百亿英镑，是老年人残疾的主要原因。在最近的一份关于老年痴呆症的报告中？据估计，痴呆症作为一个整体，每年花费国家170.3亿美元，或平均每人25，472美元。在英国，近70万人患有痴呆症，其中43.4万人患有阿尔茨海默病。的疾病（AD）。还有其他脑部疾病，不太常见，成本较低，但仍然非常痛苦的人有他们和他们的亲属，如多发性硬化症（MS）和脑肿瘤。这些疾病的共同点之一是大脑内的炎症。如果我们能够测量活体人类的这种炎症，它将使我们能够更好地在早期诊断这些疾病，因为我们有最好的机会治愈或减缓它们的发展。能够测量这种炎症也将使我们能够更好地监测和了解这些疾病以及任何潜在的治疗方法。这项工作的目的是开发一种方法来衡量这种炎症使用阿尔茨海默氏症？作为模型。我们打算使用一种非常强大的技术来可视化人体内部，称为正电子发射断层扫描，或PET。PET依赖于特殊设计的放射性化学物质，提供了一种可视化大脑中发生的事情的方法。因此，我们计划开发这种放射性化学物质，用于蛋白质的咪唑啉2结合位点。这种蛋白质存在于一种叫做神经胶质的脑细胞中。这些细胞是大脑的正常部分。然而，在老年痴呆症等疾病中，在大脑受损和炎症存在的地方，有更多的这些细胞，特别是在发炎的区域。我们已经知道，这种蛋白质的数量在死于阿尔茨海默病的人的大脑中增加了。是通过研究死后的组织。如果我们能测量阿尔茨海默病患者体内这种蛋白质的变化？这将意味着我们有一种方法来测量这种大脑炎症中发现的这种疾病和类似的疾病，早期给患者最好的机会。

Illnesses that affect the brain such as dementia cost the NHS and the country tens of billions of pounds and are the main cause of disability in old people. In a recent report for the Alzheimer?s Society it was estimated that dementia as a whole costs the country #17.03 billion per year, or an average of #25,472 per person with dementia. Nearly 700,000 people have dementia in the UK, of which 434,000 have Alzheimer?s disease (AD). There are other brain illnesses that are less common and less costly but still very painful to the people that have them and their relatives, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and brain tumours. One of the things these illnesses have in common is inflammation within the brain. If we were able to measure this inflammation in living humans, it would enable us better to diagnose these illnesses at an early stage when we have the best chance to cure or slow down their development. Being able to measure this inflammation will also enable us to monitor and understand these illnesses better, and any potential treatments. The purpose of this work is to develop a way of measuring this inflammation using Alzheimer?s disease as a model. The way we intend to do this is to use a very powerful technique for visualising inside humans, called positron emission tomography, or PET. PET relies on specially designed radioactive chemicals that provide a means to visualise what is happening in the brain. Therefore, we plan to develop such a radioactive chemical for a protein called the imidazoline2 binding site. This protein is found in a type of brain cell called glial. These cells are a normal part of the brain. However, in the illnesses such as Alzheimer?s where the brain is damaged and inflammation exists, there are more of these cells, especially in the inflamed areas. We already know that the amount of this protein is increased in the brains of people who have died of Alzheimer?s by studying post-mortem tissue. If we can measure a change in this protein in living patients with Alzheimer?s, it will mean we have a way of measuring this brain inflammation found in this and similar illnesses, early on giving the sufferer the best chance.