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Overview of Clinically Available Radiotracers for Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disorders

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Molecular Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disorders

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Abstract

Well-designed radiotracers for molecular imaging are powerful tools for the investigation of neurodegenerative disorders and for providing new means for disease treatment and diagnosis. This chapter provides an overview of prominent radiotracers now in clinical use for imaging in neurodegenerative disorders. Emphasis is placed on the burgeoning arsenal of radiotracers for imaging with positron emission tomography, although important radiotracers for single-photon emission computerized tomography are also considered. They are discussed from a chemical and radiochemical perspective with respect to their design, synthesis, and production. Radiotracers are discussed in two categories, those acting through brain metabolic pathways and those acting by binding to specific proteins. The former category is illustrated with [18F]FDG and [18F]FDOPA and the latter category with radiotracers for various targets, including TSPO as a biomarker of neuroinflammation, radiotracers for β-amyloid and tau in Alzheimer’s disease, and radiotracers for synaptic vessel glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) as a biomarker of synaptic density.

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Acknowledgments

VWP was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Mental Health, Project ZIA-MH002793). VWP thanks Dr. Shuiyu Lu (NIMH) for reading and checking the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Victor W. Pike

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  1. Victor W. Pike
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Correspondence to Victor W. Pike .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Donna J. Cross

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hospital das Forças Armadas (HFA), Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Karina Mosci

  3. Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Satoshi Minoshima

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Pike, V.W. (2023). Overview of Clinically Available Radiotracers for Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disorders. In: Cross, D.J., Mosci, K., Minoshima, S. (eds) Molecular Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35098-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35098-6_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-35097-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-35098-6

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