Imaging of Tauopathies with PET Ligands: State of the Art and Future Outlook

(1) Background: Tauopathies are a group of diseases characterized by the deposition of abnormal tau protein. They are distinguished into 3R, 4R, and 3R/4R tauopathies and also include Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging repr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Miriam Conte, Maria Silvia De Feo, Marko Magdi Abdou Sidrak, Ferdinando Corica, Joana Gorica, Giorgia Maria Granese, Luca Filippi, Giuseppe De Vincentis, Viviana Frantellizzi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Diagnostics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/10/1682
Description
Summary:(1) Background: Tauopathies are a group of diseases characterized by the deposition of abnormal tau protein. They are distinguished into 3R, 4R, and 3R/4R tauopathies and also include Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging represents a pivotal instrument to guide clinicians. This systematic review aims to summarize the current and novel PET tracers. (2) Methods: Literature research was conducted on Pubmed, Scopus, Medline, Central, and the Web of Science using the query “pet ligands” and “tauopathies”. Articles published from January 2018 to 9 February, 2023, were searched. Only studies on the development of novel PET radiotracers for imaging in tauopathies or comparative studies between existing PET tracers were included. (3) Results: A total of 126 articles were found, as follows: 96 were identified from PubMed, 27 from Scopus, one on Central, two on Medline, and zero on the Web of Science. Twenty-four duplicated works were excluded, and 63 articles did not satisfy the inclusion criteria. The remaining 40 articles were included for quality assessment. (4) Conclusions: PET imaging represents a valid instrument capable of helping clinicians in diagnosis, but it is not always perfect in differential diagnosis, even if further investigations on humans for novel promising ligands are needed.
ISSN:2075-4418