Novel PET Radioligand Shows Potential to Assess Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

A study published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine examined a radioligand that could potentially guide and assess treatment of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, reports Radiology Business . The PET radioligand, called C-Me-NB1, is designed to image NMDA receptors. The researchers measured the dose and effectiveness of the NMDA receptor eliprodil via PET scans in rats, and determined the receptors were fully occupied at neuroprotective doses of eliprodil. "The significance of the work lies in the fact that we have for the first time developed a useful PET radioligand that can be applied to image the GluN2B receptor subunit of the NMDA receptor complex in humans," says C-Me-NB1 co-inventor Simon M. Ametamey. "The availability of such a PET radioligand would not only help to better understand the role of NMDA receptors in the pathophysiology of the many brain diseases in which the NMDA receptor is implicated, but it would also help to select appropriate doses of clinically relevant GluN2B receptor candidate drugs." The researchers also think future imaging studies using C-Me-NB1 would reveal more insight on the participation of NMDA receptors in normal physiological processes such as learning and memory.