¹⁸F-labelled CCR1-receptor antagonist is not suitable for imaging of Alzheimer's disease

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with positron emission tomography (PET) using ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) relies on typical alterations of brain glucose metabolism which are, however, not disease specific. Amyloid-β imaging has not entered clinical routine yet. Post mortem histological specimen of brain tissue from AD patients revealed enhanced expression of the chemotactic cytocine receptor 1 (CCR1). Participants, methods: CCR1-antagonist ZK811460 was labeled with fluorine-18 to explore its possible use as specific diagnostic tool in AD. Tracer characterization comprising PET imaging of brain and metabolite analysis was performed in AD patients and controls.
Results: Neither qualitative evaluation nor quantitative compartment analysis of PET data did show any enhanced binding of the ¹⁸F-labeled CCR1-antagonist in the brain of AD patients or controls.
Conclusion: ¹⁸F-ZK811460 did not fulfill the expectation as diagnostic tracer in PET imaging of AD.