Unlocking mysteries of the brai...(rom post-mortem studies suggested the pr...)

Date:10/30/2009

rom post-mortem studies suggested the presence of activated microglia cells in the brain. However, the results of those studies were inconsistent. Using PET imaging to noninvasively image the living brains of schizophrenic patients, researchers in the Netherlands were able to pinpoint the neuroinflammation to an exact location in the brain, called the hippocampus. Now, researchers can target the hippocampus for further study and evaluate therapeutic treatments that could improve the quality of life for patients living with schizophrenia.

Likewise, PET imaging is also useful for identifying neuroinflammation associated with migraines. In the article, "11C-PK11195 PET for the In Vivo Evaluation of Neuroinflammation in the Rat Brain After Cortical Spreading Depression," researchers in Japan were the first to noninvasively visualize neuroinflammation in an animal model of migraine using a PET technique. Neuroinflammation is thought to be a key factor in the generation of pain sensation in migraine headaches. Observations from the study suggest that an inflammatory process may be involved in the pathologic state of migraines and that PET is a useful tool for evaluating the neurogenic inflammation in vivo.

"For physicians and patients, it is important to develop an objective method for the diagnosis of migraines and monitor therapeutic efficacy," said Yi-Long Cui, Ph.D., a researcher at the RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science in Kobe, Japan, and lead author of the study. "The present study will bring about these possibilities to us since the PET probe used in the paper has already been applied to patients in other diseases."

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Contact: Amy Shaw ashaw@snm.org 703-652-6773 Society of Nuclear Medicine Source:Eurekalert

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