News
Molecular Imaging News
January 12, 2006
UCLA Develops New Method to Track Neuron Cell Death Leading to Alzheimer's Disease
University of California - Los Angeles
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers developed a new brain imaging strategy that tracks neural cell loss in the hippocampus, a key memory center of the brain. Using a chemical marker called MPPF and positron emission tomography (PET), researchers measured the amount of serotonin receptors 1A found in neurons abundantly present in the hippocampus. In Alzheimer's disease these neural cells die, causing the hippocampus to atrophy and shrink.
This new imaging method may allow doctors to track neuronal cell reductions in the hippocampus in people that precede clinical symptoms, offering a new avenue for understanding disease progression and a potentially sensitive new tool for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The new method is currently under patent application.
The research appears in the January 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using the new strategy, UCLA researchers found density decreases of the hippocampus and other key memory centers in 49 percent of Alzheimer's disease patients and a 24 percent decrease in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
"We hope this new method will lead us to a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease as well as a new strategy for early detection," said Dr. Jorge R. Barrio, UCLA professor of medical and molecular pharmacology. "A shrinking hippocampus is a hallmark sign of Alzheimer's disease and this new marker will offer a useful strategy for early detection and more effective treatment," said Small.
