Translocator Protein-18 kDa (TSPO) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging and Its Clinical Impact in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

ABSTRACT: In vivo exploration of activated microglia in neurodegenerative diseases is achievable by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, using dedicated radiopharmaceuticals targeting the translocator protein-18 kDa (TSPO). In this review, we emphasized the major advances made over the last 20 years, thanks to TSPO PET imaging, to define the pathophysiological implication of microglia activation and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and also in psychiatric disorders. The extent and upregulation of TSPO as a molecular biomarker of activated microglia in the human brain is now widely documented in these pathologies, but its significance, and especially its protective

SUBMITTER: Dupont AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5412369 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature