Neuroinflammation, as defined by the activation of microglia and astrocytes, has emerged in the last years as a key element of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases based on genetic findings and preclinical and human studies. This has raised the need for new methodologies to assess and follow glial activation in patients, prompting the development of PET ligands for molecular imaging of glial cells and novel structural MRI and DTI tools leading to a multimodal approach. The present review describes the recent advancements in microglia and astrocyte biology in the context of health, ageing, and Alzheimer's disease, the most common dementia worldwide. The review further delves in molecular imaging discussing the challenges associated with past and present targets, including conflicting findings, and finally, presenting novel methodologies currently explored to improve our in vivo knowledge of the neuroinflammatory patterns in Alzheimer's disease. With glial cell activation as a potential therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases, the translational research between cell biologists, chemists, physicists, radiologists, and neurologists should be strengthened.

中文翻译：

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阿尔茨海默氏病中TSPO以外的神经炎症成像的前景和挑战。

根据遗传学发现以及临床前和人体研究，近年来由小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞活化定义的神经炎症已成为神经退行性疾病发病机理的关键因素。这引起了对评估和跟踪患者神经胶质细胞活化的新方法的需求，从而促进了用于神经胶质细胞分子成像的PET配体的开发以及导致多峰方法的新型结构性MRI和DTI工具的发展。本综述描述了在健康，老龄化和阿尔茨海默氏病（全世界最常见的痴呆症）的背景下，小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞生物学的最新进展。该评论进一步研究了分子成像技术，讨论了与过去和现在目标相关的挑战，包括相互矛盾的发现，最后，提出了目前正在探索的新颖方法，以改善我们对阿尔茨海默氏病神经炎症模式的体内知识。以神经胶质细胞激活作为神经退行性疾病的潜在治疗靶点，应加强细胞生物学家，化学家，物理学家，放射学家和神经学家之间的转化研究。