Molecular imaging of neurodegenerative pathology using deuterium MRI (MINDER)

使用氘 MRI 进行神经退行性病理学分子成像 (MINDER)

基本信息

批准号：
BB/X004260/1
负责人：
Benjamin Dickie
金额：
$ 22.88万
依托单位：
University of Manchester
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2023 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX004260%2F1
关键词：
Molecular imaging neurodegenerative pathology using

项目摘要

Problem: Alzheimer's disease is the main cause of dementia, a disease that affects the memory of older people. Current clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is performed by a doctor, usually by asking the patient a set of questions about their day-to-day experiences and asking them to undertake a memory test. These expert clinical assessments are wrong 30% of the time. In a research environment, it is possible to make a more accurate diagnosis using a positron emission tomography (PET) scan. These scans use special dyes that highlight parts of the brain affected by the disease. Unfortunately, PET scans are not in routine clinical use because of their high cost and limited availability. When new drugs become available, it will be vital to have widely accessible tools that can accurately diagnose whether a patient has Alzheimer's disease or not and to monitor how well the drug is working.Proposed solution: In the project we will adapt existing PET dyes so that they can be used within an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. MRI is far more widely available than PET. We will adapt the PET dye using a process called deuteration which involves using chemistry to replace hydrogen atoms within the dye with deuterium atoms. Since living tissue contains only very small amounts of deuterium, this will make it much easier for the MRI scanner to detect if the patient has Alzheimer's disease or not. Approach: We will test our new 'MRI compatible' dye using a series of experiments, first in a highly controlled environment (test tubes containing the dye and other known ingredients), then in alive genetically modified mice that mimic Alzheimer's disease. We will spend time ensuring our MRI scans are as efficient as possible, and then compare our proposed approach to PET scanning.Benefits: The approach, if successful, will provide doctors with the tools to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease in any hospital.

问题：阿尔茨海默氏病是痴呆症的主要原因，这是一种影响老年人记忆的疾病。当前对阿尔茨海默氏病的临床诊断是由医生进行的，通常是通过向患者询问有关其日常经历的一组问题，并要求他们进行记忆测试。这些专家临床评估是错误的30％。在研究环境中，可以使用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）扫描进行更准确的诊断。这些扫描使用特殊的染料，该染料突出了受疾病影响的大脑部分。不幸的是，PET扫描由于其高成本和有限的可用性而没有常规临床使用。当新药可用时，拥有广泛可用的工具可以准确诊断患者是否患有阿尔茨海默氏病并监测该药物的工作状况至关重要。已提供的解决方案：在该项目中，我们将适应现有的PET染料，以便可以在磁共振成像（MRI）扫描中使用它们。 MRI比PET更广泛地使用。我们将使用称为脱位的过程适应PET染料，该过程涉及使用化学代替氘原子中的染料中的氢原子。由于活组织仅包含少量的氘，因此MRI扫描仪可以更轻松地检测患者是否患有阿尔茨海默氏病。方法：我们将使用一系列实验测试我们的新“ MRI兼容”染料，首先是在高度控制的环境中（含有染料和其他已知成分的测试管），然后在模仿阿尔茨海默氏病的生存基因修饰的小鼠中。我们将花时间确保我们的MRI扫描尽可能高效，然后比较我们提出的PET扫描方法：Beenfits：方法（如果成功）将为医生提供准确诊断任何医院的阿尔茨海默氏病的工具。