Siemens Medical Solutions of Malvern, PA, announced today that it plans to begin clinical trials in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles, on a new biomarker based on PET technology that could potentially identify Alzheimer's disease before the onset of symptoms.
In collaboration with UCLA researcher Dr. Jorge Barrio, the trials will investigate the use of a fluorine-based radiotracer called 2-(1-{6-[(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)(methyl) amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononitrile, or F-18 FDDNP. An FDDNP image collected by Barrio's team received Image of the Year honors at the 2001 SNM meeting.
The researchers hope that PET imaging of FDDNP will identify brain protein deposits -- amyloid plaques and tangles -- that may cause Alzheimer's disease, at an earlier stage than other techniques. These plaques and tangles typically cannot be visualized with fluordeoxyglucose (FDG), the workhorse PET imaging tracer.
Siemens and UCLA are planning to begin a phase I single-center study of the safety of FDDNP. After phase I, the study protocol will focus on the use of the biomarker in patient populations and its potential to seek out tangles and plaques in the living brain of Alzheimer's disease patients.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
December 21, 2006
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