It is today possible to detect accumulation of Tau in the brain with novel specific PET radio ligands. Within the BioFinder study we have, in collaboration with AVID Radiopharmaceuticals/Lilly (USA), used the tau-tracer 18F-AV1451 (previously named T807). The figure above shows a subject with Alzheimer’s disease with an increased parieto-temporal uptake of the ligand, a patient with Corticobasal degeneration (CBD), a patient with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and a cognitively healthy elderly subject scanned using AV-1451 (coronal and sagittal sections).
Example of tau-PET studies:
Within the BioFinder-study we have described the kinetics of 18F-AV1451 and the optimal scanning time, and reference region for SUVR calculation (Hahn et al. J Nucl Med. 2017 Apr;58(4):623-631). Correlated the neuropathology to the PET retention of 18F-AV1451 in a patient with a mutation in the MAPT gene (Smith et al. Brain 2016 Sep;139(Pt 9):2372-9). Described the difference in 18F-AV1451 retention in Early and Late Onset Alzheimer’s disease (Schöll et al. Brain in press), and the relation to tau in cerebrospinal fluid (Mattsson et al EMBO Mol Med. 2017 Sep;9(9):1212-1223). We have also characterized the uptake of AV-1451 in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (Smith et al. Mov Disord. 2017 Jan;32(1):108-114; Smith et al. Acta Neuropathol. 2017 Jan;133(1):149-151) and Corticobasal Syndrome (Smith et al. Neurology. 2017 Aug 22;89(8):845-853).
Starting autumn 2017 the follow up study BioFinder2 will start including subjects. Within this study the tau tracer 18F-RO6958948 will be used in collaboration with Hoffman LaRoche (Switzerland).
3-D animation of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease scanned with 18F-AV1451.