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Cerebellum Can Serve As a Pseudo-Reference Region in Alzheimer Disease to Detect Neuroinflammation Measured with PET Radioligand Binding to Translocator Protein
Lyoo CH, Ikawa M, Liow JS, Zoghbi SS, Morse CL, Pike VW, Fujita M, Innis RB et al.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2015-03-12
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Unlabelled Alzheimer disease (AD) is associated with an increase in the brain of the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), which is overexpressed in activated microglia and reactive astrocytes. Measuring the density of TSPO with PET typically requires absolute quantitation with arterial blood sampling, because a reference region devoid of TSPO does not exist in the brain. We sought to determine whether a simple ratio method could substitute for absolute quantitation of binding with (11)C-PBR28, a second-generation radioligand for TSPO.
Key findings
- Measuring the density of TSPO with PET typically requires absolute quantitation with arterial blood sampling, because a reference region devoid of TSPO does not exist in the brain.
- We sought to determine whether a simple ratio method could substitute for absolute quantitation of binding with (11)C-PBR28, a second-generation radioligand for TSPO.
- Methods (11)C-PBR28 PET imaging was performed in 21 healthy controls, 11 individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and 25 AD patients.
- Group differences in (11)C-PBR28 binding were compared using 2 methods.
Why it matters
This study tested whether a simpler PET imaging method using the cerebellum as a reference region could replace the standard method that requires arterial blood sampling to measure TSPO, a marker of activated microglia and astrocytes in Alzheimer's disease. The findings suggest this simpler approach may work for detecting neuroinflammation, but the study involved only 21 healthy controls, 11 people with mild cognitive impairment, and 25 Alzheimer's patients.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / 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 | 2015 — 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 236 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 18.2 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 15 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 54 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author William Charles Kreisl: h-index 33 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25766898) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.114.146027
- PubMed: 25766898
- Original source →
- Free full text: Journal of Nuclear Medicine →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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.
APA 7th
Lyoo, C. H., Ikawa, M., Liow, J. S., Zoghbi, S. S., Morse, C. L., Pike, V. W., et al. (2015). Cerebellum Can Serve As a Pseudo-Reference Region in Alzheimer Disease to Detect Neuroinflammation Measured with PET Radioligand Binding to Translocator Protein. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.114.146027
Vancouver
Lyoo CH, Ikawa M, Liow JS, Zoghbi SS, Morse CL, Pike VW, et al. Cerebellum Can Serve As a Pseudo-Reference Region in Alzheimer Disease to Detect Neuroinflammation Measured with PET Radioligand Binding to Translocator Protein. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2015. doi:10.2967/jnumed.114.146027. PMID: 25766898.
BibTeX
@article{lyoo2015-25766898,
author = {Lyoo, C. H. and Ikawa, M. and Liow, J. S. and Zoghbi, S. S. and Morse, C. L. and Pike, V. W. and Fujita, M. and Innis, R. B. and others},
title = {{Cerebellum Can Serve As a Pseudo-Reference Region in Alzheimer Disease to Detect Neuroinflammation Measured with PET Radioligand Binding to Translocator Protein}},
journal = {Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.2967/jnumed.114.146027},
pmid = {25766898},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.114.146027}
}
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