¹⁸F-fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol (FEOBV) is a new PET radiotracer that binds to the vesicular acetylcholine transporter. In both animals and healthy humans, FEOBV was found sensitive and reliable to characterize presynaptic cholinergic nerve terminals in the brain. It has been used here for we believe the first time in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to quantify brain cholinergic losses. The sample included 12 participants evenly divided in healthy subjects and patients with AD, all assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) cognitive scales. Every participant underwent three consecutive PET imaging sessions with (1) the FEOBV as a tracer of the cholinergic terminals, (2) the ¹⁸F-NAV4694 (NAV) as an amyloid-beta tracer, and (3) the ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) as a brain metabolism agent. Standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) were computed for each tracer, and compared between the two groups using voxel wise t-tests. Correlations were also computed between each tracer and the cognitive scales, as well as between FEOBV and the two other radiotracers. Results showed major reductions of FEOBV uptake in multiple cortical areas that were evident in each AD subject, and in the AD group as a whole when compared to the control group. FDG and NAV were also able to distinguish the two groups, but with lower sensitivity than FEOBV. FEOBV uptake values were positively correlated with FDG in numerous cortical areas, and negatively correlated with NAV in some restricted areas. The MMSE and MoCA cognitive scales were found to correlate significantly with FEOBV and with FDG, but not with NAV. We concluded that PET imaging with FEOBV is more sensitive than either FDG or NAV to distinguish AD patients from control subjects, and may be useful to quantify disease severity. FEOBV can be used to assess cholinergic degeneration in human, and may represent an excellent biomarker for AD.

中文翻译：

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使用[18F] -FEOBV进行PET成像定量阿尔茨海默氏病中的神经胆碱能神经支配。

¹⁸ F-氟乙氧基苯并呋喃唑（FEOBV）是一种新型的PET示踪剂，可与囊泡的乙酰胆碱转运蛋白结合。在动物和健康人类中，均发现FEOBV灵敏且可靠，可表征大脑中突触前胆碱能神经末梢。因为我们相信它是首次在阿尔茨海默氏病（AD）患者中用于量化脑胆碱能损失。样本包括平均分为健康受试者和AD患者的12名参与者，所有受试者均通过最小精神状态考试（MMSE）和蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）认知量表进行了评估。每个参与者都进行了三个连续的PET成像会议，其中（1）FEOBV作为胆碱能终末的示踪剂，（2）¹⁸ F-NAV4694（NAV）作为淀粉样β示踪剂，（3）^18岁F-氟脱氧葡萄糖（FDG）作为脑代谢剂。计算每个示踪剂的标准摄取值比率（SUVRs），并使用体素明智的t检验比较两组之间的比较。还计算了每个示踪剂与认知量表之间的相关性，以及FEOBV与其他两个放射性示踪剂之间的相关性。结果显示，与对照组相比，在每个AD受试者以及整个AD组中，多个皮质区域的FEOBV摄入量均显着降低。FDG和NAV也能够区分这两组，但灵敏度低于FEOBV。在许多皮质区域，FEOBV摄取值与FDG正相关，而在某些限制区域，FEOBV摄取值与NAV负相关。发现MMSE和MoCA认知量表与FEOBV和FDG显着相关，但不适用于NAV。我们得出的结论是，FEOBV的PET成像比FDG或NAV更为敏感，可以将AD患者与对照对象区分开，并且可能有助于量化疾病的严重程度。FEOBV可用于评估人的胆碱能变性，可能代表AD的优良生物标志物。