Description
The discovery of AD risk genes coding for proteins involved in inflammation has revived the interest in neuroinflammation (or brain inflammation) in the pathogenesis of AD. To understand the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of AD, it is important to measure inflammation in the brain of people with AD and its relationship with abnormal forms of brain proteins (ß-amyloid [Aß]) and tau, as the disease progresses. So far, there is no in vivo data in humans verifying either a neuroprotective or harmful role of inflammation in the progression of AD. To clarify these issues, we will study inflammation in the brain of 100 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 10 patients with old head trauma or frontotemporal dementia and 40 healthy volunteers by means of a PET tracer (11C-ER176).
