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Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease with Pittsburgh Compound‐B
William E. Klunk, Henry Engler, Agneta K. Nordberg, Yanming Wang, G. Blomqvist, Daniel P. Holt, Mats Bergström, Irina Savitcheva et al.. Annals of Neurology, 2004-01-21
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
This report describes the first human study of a novel amyloid-imaging positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, termed Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB), in 16 patients with diagnosed mild AD and 9 controls. Compared with controls, AD patients typically showed marked retention of PIB in areas of association cortex known to contain large amounts of amyloid deposits in AD. In the AD patient group, PIB retention was increased most prominently in frontal cortex (1.94-fold, p = 0.0001). Large increases also were observed in parietal (1.71-fold, p = 0.0002), temporal (1.52-fold, p = 0.002), and occipital (1.54-fold, p = 0.002) cortex and the striatum (1.76-fold, p = 0.0001). PIB retention was equivalent in AD patients and controls in areas known to be relatively unaffected by amyloid deposition (such as subcortical white matter, pons, and cerebellum). Studies in three young (21 years) and six older healthy controls (69.5 +/- 11 years) showed low PIB retention in cortical areas and no significant group differences between young and older controls. In cortical areas, PIB retention correlated inversely with cerebral glucose metabolism determined with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose. This relationship was most robust in the parietal cortex (r = -0.72; p = 0.0001). The results suggest that PET imaging with the novel tracer, PIB, can provide quantitative information on amyloid deposits in living subjects.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Klunk, W. E., Engler, H., Nordberg, A. K., Wang, Y., Blomqvist, G., Holt, D. P., et al. (2004). Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease with Pittsburgh Compound‐B. Annals of Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20009
Vancouver
Klunk WE, Engler H, Nordberg AK, Wang Y, Blomqvist G, Holt DP, et al. Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease with Pittsburgh Compound‐B. Annals of Neurology. 2004. doi:10.1002/ana.20009. PMID: 14991808.
BibTeX
@article{klunk2004-14991808,
author = {Klunk, William E. and Engler, Henry and Nordberg, Agneta K. and Wang, Yanming and Blomqvist, G. and Holt, Daniel P. and Bergström, Mats and Savitcheva, Irina and others},
title = {{Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease with Pittsburgh Compound‐B}},
journal = {Annals of Neurology},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1002/ana.20009},
pmid = {14991808},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20009}
}
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.
Key findings
- Compared with controls, AD patients typically showed marked retention of PIB in areas of association cortex known to contain large amounts of amyloid deposits in AD.
- Studies in three young (21 years) and six older healthy controls (69.5 +/- 11 years) showed low PIB retention in cortical areas and no significant group differences between young and older controls.
- The results suggest that PET imaging with the novel tracer, PIB, can provide quantitative information on amyloid deposits in living subjects.
Why it matters
In this first human study of the amyloid-imaging PET tracer Pittsburgh Compound-B, 16 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease showed marked retention of the tracer in areas of association cortex known to contain large amounts of amyloid deposits, compared with 9 controls. The results suggest that PET imaging with this tracer can provide quantitative information on amyloid deposits in living subjects.
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Study details
- Participants16
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (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 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 16 participants |
| 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 (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 4,511 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 188.0 citations a year over 24 year(s) since 2004 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 83.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 6 / 6 | Cited by 331 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 427 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Bengt Långström: h-index 86 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 14991808) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
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