PET Imaging of Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Diseases Via a Novel TSPO Radioligand
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-03-03
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Background:
Aging-related progressive neurological disorders include frontotemporal dementia, Lou Gehrig
s disease, and Alzheimer s disease. Little is known about what causes these disorders. Brain
inflammation may be involved. Researchers want to see if scans using radioactive drugs can
show brain inflammation.
Objective:
To see if the drug [11C]ER176 can show inflammation in the brain in people with certain
progressive neurological disorders compared to healthy adults. Also to find genes that might
be associated with or cause these disorders.
Eligibility:
People ages 18 and older with an aging-related neurological disorder, and healthy adults
Design:
Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, neurological exam,
psychiatric history, and blood tests.
Participants will have 2-5 visits for the first session. They will have 2 PET scans and 1 MRI
scan. They may have 3 more sessions: 6 months to about 18 months later, 1 year after that,
and about 30 months to 5 years after the first visit. There may be up to 20 total visits.
For the scans, participants will lie on a bed that slides into the scanners. For the PET
scans, a strap will fix their head in place. A radioactive drug will be injected through a
catheter. A needle will guide a thin plastic tube into an arm vein. Additional catheters may
be put in place to draw blood. Each PET will take 2 hours. The MRI will take 30 60 minutes.
At each session, participants will have a brief interview, medical history, physical exam,
blood and urine tests, heart tests, and memory and thinking tests. They may donate blood for
DNA tests.