Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Towards clinical application of tau PET tracers for diagnosing dementia due to Alzheimer's disease

Ossenkoppele, Rik LU and Hansson, Oskar LU orcid (2021) In Alzheimer's and Dementia 17(12). p.1998-2008
Abstract

The recent development of several tau positron emission tomography (PET) tracers represents a major milestone for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) field. These tau PET tracers bind tau neurofibrillary tangles, a key neuropathological characteristic of AD that is tightly linked to synaptic loss, brain atrophy, and cognitive decline. It is notable that these tau PET tracers show low uptake in most non-AD tauopathies and other neurodegenerative disorders, resulting in a diagnostic specificity that is superior to that of amyloid beta (Aβ) PET and biofluid markers, especially at an older age when incidental Aβ pathology is common. Furthermore, tau PET tracers diagnostically outperform widely used MRI markers. Given its excellent diagnostic... (More)

The recent development of several tau positron emission tomography (PET) tracers represents a major milestone for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) field. These tau PET tracers bind tau neurofibrillary tangles, a key neuropathological characteristic of AD that is tightly linked to synaptic loss, brain atrophy, and cognitive decline. It is notable that these tau PET tracers show low uptake in most non-AD tauopathies and other neurodegenerative disorders, resulting in a diagnostic specificity that is superior to that of amyloid beta (Aβ) PET and biofluid markers, especially at an older age when incidental Aβ pathology is common. Furthermore, tau PET tracers diagnostically outperform widely used MRI markers. Given its excellent diagnostic performance due to the combination of high sensitivity and specificity for detecting tau pathology in AD dementia, we hypothesize that tau PET can become an important diagnostic tool in specialized clinics for the differential diagnosis of dementia syndromes where AD is among the major possible underlying diseases.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Alzheimer's disease, CSF, dementia, differential diagnosis, MRI, pathology, PET, plasma, tau, tauopathy
in
Alzheimer's and Dementia
volume
17
issue
12
pages
1998 - 2008
publisher
Wiley
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105632555
  • pmid:33984177
ISSN
1552-5260
DOI
10.1002/alz.12356
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e73c0f67-3eeb-450c-8016-f421a6d28c01
date added to LUP
2021-06-01 16:13:36
date last changed
2024-06-15 11:55:56
@article{e73c0f67-3eeb-450c-8016-f421a6d28c01,
  abstract     = {{<p>The recent development of several tau positron emission tomography (PET) tracers represents a major milestone for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) field. These tau PET tracers bind tau neurofibrillary tangles, a key neuropathological characteristic of AD that is tightly linked to synaptic loss, brain atrophy, and cognitive decline. It is notable that these tau PET tracers show low uptake in most non-AD tauopathies and other neurodegenerative disorders, resulting in a diagnostic specificity that is superior to that of amyloid beta (Aβ) PET and biofluid markers, especially at an older age when incidental Aβ pathology is common. Furthermore, tau PET tracers diagnostically outperform widely used MRI markers. Given its excellent diagnostic performance due to the combination of high sensitivity and specificity for detecting tau pathology in AD dementia, we hypothesize that tau PET can become an important diagnostic tool in specialized clinics for the differential diagnosis of dementia syndromes where AD is among the major possible underlying diseases.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ossenkoppele, Rik and Hansson, Oskar}},
  issn         = {{1552-5260}},
  keywords     = {{Alzheimer's disease; CSF; dementia; differential diagnosis; MRI; pathology; PET; plasma; tau; tauopathy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{1998--2008}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley}},
  series       = {{Alzheimer's and Dementia}},
  title        = {{Towards clinical application of tau PET tracers for diagnosing dementia due to Alzheimer's disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/alz.12356}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/alz.12356}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}