Fluorescent imaging agents ‘could help to chart Alzheimer’s development’

Scientists have developed a potentially promising new imaging agent that could be used to monitor the progression of Alzheimer's disease with greater success.

A team based in Japan have developed fluorescent compounds that bind to tau proteins, which are known to aggregate together and become tangled in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers while fragments of another protein – amyloid beta – accumulate into deposits or plaques.

By tracking the spread of this imaging agent via positron emission tomography, the team was able to correlate the spread of tau tangles in the brain with moderate Alzheimer's disease progression.

This new development could have widespread benefits in diagnosing, monitoring and treating other neurological conditions, as tau tangles also play a role in various other types of dementias and movement disorders.

Senior author Dr Makoto Higuchi of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan said: "PET images of tau accumulation are highly complementary to images of senile amyloid beta plaques and provide robust information on brain regions developing or at risk for tau-induced neuronal death."

Alzheimer's Society estimates suggest that dementia affects around 650,000 people in England, with Alzheimer's being responsible for around 62 percent of all cases.