THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRAIN AND SYSTEMIC METABOLISM IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AS ASSESSED BY DUAL-TRACER ACETOACETATE/FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE PET IMAGING

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts an estimated 5.4 million people in the United States. Cerebral metabolic dysfunction is a well-established feature of AD. Despite an established relationship between systemic metabolic disease and AD we know very little about how brain metabolism is impacted in diabetes or related metabolic conditions and how this altered cerebral metabolic state may influence risk for dementia. We have little knowledge of how metabolic fuels other than glucose are impacted in preclinical and symptomatic disease states and how their usage may relate to various tissue and neuroimaging biomarkers – which may be used to identify early pathology and response to therapeutic intervention.