Affiliations: Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen, The Netherlands | Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, CMN – Centro de Medicina Nuclear, São Paulo, SP, Brasil | Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Neurociência Aplicada (NAPNA), Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brasil | Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department (LIM-43), Departamento de Radiologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, São Paulo, SP, Brasil | Departamento de Neurociências e Ciências do Comportamento, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
Note: [] Correspondence to: Marcel Benadiba, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713GZ Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mails: [email protected] (Marcel Benadiba); [email protected]; [email protected] (Geraldo F. Busatto); [email protected] (Carlos Alberto Buchpigel); [email protected] (Vitor Tumas).
Abstract: The pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) has not yet been completely elucidated. However, during the past few years, significant progress has been made in understanding the intra- and extracellular mechanisms by which proteins such as alpha-synuclein and neuroinflammatory molecules may display impaired function and/or expression in PD. Recent developments in imaging techniques based on positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) now allow the non-invasive tracking of such molecular targets of known relevance to PD in vivo. This article summarizes recent PET and SPECT studies of new radiopharmaceuticals and discusses their potential role and perspectives for use in the fields of newdrug development and early diagnosis for PD, as well to aid in differential diagnosis and monitoring of the progression of PD.
