This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

46/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 46 out of 100. Brain scans and imaging

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Unlabelled Imaging of neurofibrillary pathology in the brain helps in diagnosing dementia, tracking disease progression, and evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of antidementia drugs. The radiotracers used in this imaging must be highly sensitive and specific for tau protein fibrils in the human brain. We developed a novel tau PET tracer, (18)F-THK5351, through compound optimization of arylquinoline derivatives. Methods The in vitro binding properties, pharmacokinetics, and safety of (18)F-THK5351 were investigated, and a clinical study on Alzheimer disease (AD) patients was performed. Results (18)F-THK5351 demonstrated higher binding affinity for hippocampal homogenates from AD brains and faster dissociation from white-matter tissue than did (18)F-THK5117. The THK5351 binding amount correlated with the amount of tau deposits in human brain samples. Autoradiography of brain sections revealed that THK5351 bound to neurofibrillary tangles selectively and with a higher signal-to-background ratio than did THK5117. THK5351 exhibited favorable pharmacokinetics and no defluorination in mice. In first-in-human PET studies in AD patients, (18)F-THK5351 demonstrated faster kinetics, higher contrast, and lower retention in subcortical white matter than(18)F-THK5117. Conclusion (18)F-THK5351 is a useful PET tracer for the early detection of neurofibrillary pathology in AD patients.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

A new PET tracer called 18F-THK5351 bound selectively to neurofibrillary tangles and showed favorable properties in first-in-human PET studies in Alzheimer's disease patients. This is a tool for detecting tau pathology and does not show that any treatment based on it works.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Harada, R., Okamura, N., Furumoto, S., Furukawa, K., Ishiki, A., Tomita, N., et al. (2016). 18F-THK5351: A Novel PET Radiotracer for Imaging Neurofibrillary Pathology in Alzheimer Disease. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.164848

Vancouver

Harada R, Okamura N, Furumoto S, Furukawa K, Ishiki A, Tomita N, et al. 18F-THK5351: A Novel PET Radiotracer for Imaging Neurofibrillary Pathology in Alzheimer Disease. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2016. doi:10.2967/jnumed.115.164848. PMID: 26541774.

BibTeX

@article{harada2016-26541774,
  author  = {Harada, R. and Okamura, N. and Furumoto, S. and Furukawa, K. and Ishiki, A. and Tomita, N. and Tago, T. and Hiraoka, K. and others},
  title   = {{18F-THK5351: A Novel PET Radiotracer for Imaging Neurofibrillary Pathology in Alzheimer Disease}},
  journal = {Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.2967/jnumed.115.164848},
  pmid    = {26541774},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.164848}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

Results (18)F-THK5351 demonstrated higher binding affinity for hippocampal homogenates from AD brains and faster dissociation from white-matter tissue than did (18)F-THK5117.
Autoradiography of brain sections revealed that THK5351 bound to neurofibrillary tangles selectively and with a higher signal-to-background ratio than did THK5117.
In first-in-human PET studies in AD patients, (18)F-THK5351 demonstrated faster kinetics, higher contrast, and lower retention in subcortical white matter than(18)F-THK5117.

Why it matters

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 46/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Journal of Nuclear Medicine: journal h-index 230 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 331 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	27.6 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 26.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 16 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 44 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Yukitsuka Kudo: h-index 38 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Tohoku University: institution h-index 880 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	0 / 3	OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26541774)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	46 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.

Later studies that cite this one

16 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.

Related studies in Brain scans and imaging from nearby years

Also tagged “machine”

834 studies in the library carry the topic tag “machine”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 834 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Brain scans and imaging

See all studies in Brain scans and imaging →