This study used 11 C-PBR28 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to determine whether levels of 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), an inflammation-specific biomarker, are increased in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients. 11 C-PBR28, 18 F-FDG, and 11 C-PIB brain PET scans, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were conducted in four FTLD patients and 22 healthy controls. 11 C-PBR28 scans revealed that all FTLD patients showed increased TSPO binding versus controls. Significantly greater increases in TSPO were observed in the frontal, lateral temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices, topographically consistent with individual clinical phenotypes and with brain MRI and 18 F-FDG PET. Amyloid burden was not increased.
© Published 2019. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc on behalf of American Neurological Association.