In vivo PET imaging of neuroinflammation in familial frontotemporal dementia
Publication: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Maura Malpetti, Timothy Rittman, Peter Simon Jones, Thomas Edmund Cope, Luca Passamonti, William Richard Bevan-Jones, Karalyn Patterson, Tim D Fryer, Young T Hong, Franklin I Aigbirhio, John Tiernan O’Brien, James Benedict Rowe
29 October 2020
The researchers report in vivo patterns of neuroinflammation and abnormal protein aggregation in seven cases of familial frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with mutations in MAPT, GRN and C9orf72 genes.
Patients with familial FTD across all mutation groups showed increased [11C]PK11195 binding predominantly in frontotemporal regions, with additional regions showing abnormalities in individuals. Patients with MAPT mutations had a consistent distribution of [18F]AV-1451 binding across the brain, with heterogeneous distributions among carriers of GRN and C9orf72 mutations.
This case series suggests that neuroinflammation is part of the pathophysiology of familial FTD, warranting further consideration of immunomodulatory therapies for disease modification and prevention.