In vivo imaging of Glial activation in Alzheimer's disease
File(s)fneur-09-00625.pdf (887.66 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Sastre, M
Edison, P
Donat, C
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by memory loss and decline of cognitive function, associated with progressive neurodegeneration. While neuropathological processes like amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles have been linked to neuronal death in AD, the precise role of glial activation on disease progression is still debated. It was suggested that neuroinflammation could occur well ahead of amyloid deposition and may be responsible for clearing amyloid, having a neuroprotective effect; however, later in the disease, glial activation could become deleterious, contributing to neuronal toxicity. Recent genetic and preclinical studies suggest that the different activation states of microglia and astrocytes are complex, not as polarized as previously thought, and that the heterogeneity in their phenotype can switch during disease progression. In the last few years, novel imaging techniques e.g., new radiotracers for assessing glia activation using positron emission tomography and advanced magnetic resonance imaging technologies have emerged, allowing the correlation of neuro-inflammatory markers with cognitive decline, brain function and brain pathology in vivo. Here we review all new imaging technology in AD patients and animal models that has the potential to serve for early diagnosis of the disease, to monitor disease progression and to test the efficacy and the most effective time window for potential anti-inflammatory treatments.
Date Issued
2018-08-07
Online Publication Date
2018-08-07
2018-09-24T08:21:18Z
Date Acceptance
2018-07-10
ISSN
1664-2295
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Neurology
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Edison, Donat and Sastre. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Source Database
manual-entry
Sponsor
Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK)
Grant Number
ARUK-PPG2012B-21
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Clinical Neurology
Neurosciences
Neurosciences & Neurology
inflammation
TSPO
Alzheimer's disease
positron emission tomography (PET)
microglia
astrocyte
imaging
POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY
PROTEIN 18 KDA
PERIPHERAL BENZODIAZEPINE-RECEPTOR
18-KDA TRANSLOCATOR PROTEIN
MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM
MICROGLIAL ACTIVATION
BINDING-SITES
MOUSE MODEL
HUMAN BRAIN
1109 Neurosciences
1103 Clinical Sciences
1701 Psychology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 625