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Five-year follow-up of 11C-PIB uptake in Alzheimer’s disease and MCI

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal changes in [11C]PIB uptake in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) over a long-term follow-up.

Methods

Six AD patients, ten MCI patients and eight healthy subjects underwent a [11C]PIB PET scan at baseline and at 2 and 5 years. The clinical status of the MCI patients was evaluated every 6 months.

Results

The MCI group showed a significant increase in [11C]PIB uptake over time (p < 0.001), with a similar increase from baseline to 2 years (4.7 % per year) and from 2 to 5 years (5.0 % per year). Eight MCI patients (80 %) converted to AD, and two of these patients showed a normal [11C]PIB scan at baseline but increased uptake later. There was an increase in [11C]PIB uptake with time in the AD group (p = 0.02), but this did not significantly differ from the change in the control group.

Conclusion

Our results revealed a significant increase in amyloid load even at the time of AD diagnosis in some of the MCI patients who converted. A positive [11C]PIB scan at baseline in MCI patients strongly predicted future conversion to AD but a negative PIB scan in MCI patients did not exclude future conversion. The results suggest that there is wide individual variation in the brain amyloid load in MCI, and in the course of amyloid accumulation in relation to the clinical diagnosis of AD.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by EVO grants from Turku University Hospital, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation and the Research Council for Health of the Academy of Finland (no. 15762). The authors thank the staff of the Turku PET Centre for technical assistance.

Conflicts of interest

This was an academic work and did not receive support from the medical industry or other companies. Dr. Kemppainen has received research support from the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Orion-Farmos Research Foundation. Dr. Scheinin has received research support from the Orion-Farmos Research Foundation. Dr. Parkkola has received EVO grants from Turku University Hospital (year 2012). Dr. Rinne has received clinical grants from Turku University Hospital (EVO), Sigrid Juselius Foundation and Academy of Finland. Drs. Koivunen, Johansson, Toivonen, Någren, Rokka, and Karrasch report no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, P.O. Box 52, 20521, Turku, Finland

    N. M. Kemppainen, N. M. Scheinin, J. Koivunen, J. Johansson, J. T. Toivonen, K. Någren, J. Rokka & J. O. Rinne

  2. Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    M. Karrasch

  3. Department of Radiology, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

    R. Parkkola

Authors
  1. N. M. Kemppainen
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  2. N. M. Scheinin
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  3. J. Koivunen
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  4. J. Johansson
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  5. J. T. Toivonen
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  6. K. Någren
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  7. J. Rokka
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  8. M. Karrasch
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  9. R. Parkkola
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  10. J. O. Rinne
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Correspondence to N. M. Kemppainen.

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Kemppainen, N.M., Scheinin, N.M., Koivunen, J. et al. Five-year follow-up of 11C-PIB uptake in Alzheimer’s disease and MCI. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 41, 283–289 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2562-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2562-0

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