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Eye-Tracking Control to Assess Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
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Published on: October 13, 2016

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Positron Emission Tomography Molecular Imaging Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Sheena Chew1, Nazem Atassi1

  • 1Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.

Frontiers in Neurology
|March 19, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging shows promise for diagnosing and monitoring amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This technique visualizes central nervous system changes, aiding in drug development for this fatal neurodegenerative disease.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Medical Imaging
  • Biomarker Development

Background:

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with limited treatment options.
  • Current disease-modifying drugs for ALS, riluzole and edaravone, offer modest efficacy.
  • There is a critical need for biomarkers to improve ALS diagnosis, prognosis, and drug development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the progress and potential of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging as a biomarker in ALS.
  • To explore how PET imaging can aid in diagnosing ALS, predicting patient outcomes, and measuring treatment effects.
  • To discuss the future research required to establish PET imaging as a standard tool in ALS therapeutic development.

Main Methods:

  • Review of 30 years of PET imaging studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
  • Analysis of PET radioligands targeting various pathophysiological mechanisms in ALS, including metabolism, neuroinflammation, neuronal dysfunction, and oxidative stress.
  • Examination of PET imaging applications in natural history studies and clinical trials for ALS.

Main Results:

  • PET imaging allows visualization of central nervous system (CNS) pathology in individuals with ALS.
  • PET can identify upper motor neuron (UMN) pathology, potentially aiding early diagnosis.
  • PET has the potential to stratify patients for clinical trials and serve as a pharmacodynamic biomarker.

Conclusions:

  • PET imaging is a promising tool for advancing ALS research and therapeutic development.
  • Establishing PET as a diagnostic, prognostic, and pharmacodynamic biomarker is crucial for accelerating drug discovery.
  • Continued research is needed to fully integrate PET imaging into the clinical management and drug development pipeline for ALS.
Keywords:
amyotrophic lateral sclerosisbiomarkerdiagnostic biomarkerneuroimagingpharmacodynamic biomarkerpositron emission tomographytherapeutic development

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