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PET Scan of Brain Metabolism in Relation to Age and Disease
This study has been completed.
Sponsored by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Information provided by: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00001972
  Purpose

The main source of energy for the brain comes from a combination of oxygen and glucose (sugar). For brain cells to function normally they must receive a constant supply of these nutrients. As areas of the brain become more active blood flow into and out of these areas increase.

In addition to oxygen and glucose, the brain uses chemical compounds known as phospholipids. These phospholipids make up the covering of nerve cells that assist in the transfer of information from cell to cell. Without phospholipids brain cell activity may become abnormal and cause problems in the nervous system.

Certain diseases like Alzheimer's disease and brain tumors can affect blood flow to the brain and change the way the brain metabolizes phospholipids. In addition to diseases, changes in the brain occur with normal healthy aging.

This study is designed to use PET scan to measure changes in blood flow and changes in phospholipid metabolism. Using this technique, researchers can improve their understanding of how certain diseases change the shape and function of the brain.


Condition Intervention
Alzheimer's Disease
Brain Neoplasm
Niemann Pick Disease
Drug: 15 O Water

Genetics Home Reference related topics: Alzheimer disease cholesteryl ester storage disease Farber lipogranulomatosis long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency Niemann-Pick disease primary carnitine deficiency
MedlinePlus related topics: Alzheimer's Disease Brain Cancer Cancer Childhood Brain Tumors Drinking Water Nuclear Scans
U.S. FDA Resources
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Human Brain Phospholipid Metabolism in Relation to Age and Disease

Further study details as provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):

Estimated Enrollment: 123
Study Start Date: September 1994
Estimated Study Completion Date: August 2002
Detailed Description:

The Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section (BPMS) of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Clinical Neuroscience Program (CNP) of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) propose to study regional brain phospholipid metabolism in young and old normal volunteers and in patients with Alzheimer disease. The method to be employed, developed from animal studies, involves the intravenous injection of a radiolabeled polyunsaturated fatty acid, [11C]arachidonic acid and measuring regional brain radioactivity using positron emission tomography (PET). A mathematical model is used to calculate regional brain incorporation coefficients k* of [11C]arachidonate into brain. These reflect brain signal transduction and membrane turnover involving phospholipids and the signal transduction and membrane turnover involving phospholipids and the activation of the enzyme, phospholipase A2. PET also will be used in the same subjects to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), a marker of brain energy metabolism, with radioactive water ([150]H20). The literature reports that rCBF and energy metabolism decline with age and are markedly reduced in Alzheimer disease. We hypothesize that (a) we will be able to quantify and image incorporation of [11C]arachidonate into the human brain for the first time, (b) in normal volunteers, k* for arachidonate will be correlated on a regional basis with rCBF, (c) rCBF will be reduced in the older compared with the younger normal volunteers, and markedly reduced in Alzheimer disease patients compared with the older volunteers (controls), (d) the normal coupling (regression) relation between k* and rCBF will be disturbed in Alzheimer disease.

This protocol originally proposed to measure brain incorporation of two labeled fatty acids, [11C]arachidonate and [11C]palmitate, as well as rCBF, in young and old normal volunteers, and in patients with Alzheimer disease, Niemann-Pick Type C disease and brain tumors. Eleven patients with Alzheimer disease have been scanned using [11C]arachidonate and [150]H20, compared with 10 volunteers. The current amendment proposes to use only [11C]arachidonate and [150]H20 in 16 additional normal volunteers, and to compare the results between old and young groups and patients with Alzheimer disease. A request to study only 16 additional normal volunteers was approved by the NINDS IRB at the Continuing Review in 1999, and has not changed since then.

  Eligibility

Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

NORMAL VOLUNTEERS:

Age between 18 and 90 years.

No past or current medical condition that would interfere with brain function.

No history of alcoholism, psychiatric or neurological illness, head trauma with loss of consciousness, history of exposure to central nervous system toxin; history of central nervous system infection, metabolic, endocrine, connective tissue disease; hypertension or other cardiovascular disorder; abnormal renal, liver or pulmonary function; blood or coagulation disease; malignancy; psychopharmacological treatment; neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disorder; stroke; epilepsy; subjects requiring regular medication, and subjects demonstrated by drug screening to have taken a controlled substance.

No occupational exposure to metal slivers or shavings.

No females who are pregnant or breast feeding.

PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMER DISEASE:

Age between 18 and 90 years.

Diagnosis of possible or probably Alzheimer Disease according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.

Aside from Alzheimer Disease, no past or current medical condition that would interfere with brain function.

No history of alcoholism, psychiatric or neurological illness, head trauma with loss of consciousness, history of exposure to central nervous system toxin; history of central nervous system infection, metabolic, endocrine, connective tissue diseases; hypertension or other cardiovascular disorder; abnormal renal, liver or pulmonary function; blood or coagulation disease; malignancy; psychopharmacological treatment.

No females who are pregnant or breast feeding.

  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00001972

Locations
United States, Maryland
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
Sponsors and Collaborators
  More Information

Publications:
Study ID Numbers: 940205, 94-N-0205
Study First Received: January 18, 2000
Last Updated: March 3, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00001972  
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):
Alzheimer's Disease
Positron Emission Tomography
Brain Phospholipid
Fatty Acids
11C Arachidonate
Signal Transduction
Brain

Study placed in the following topic categories:
Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors
Pick Disease of the Brain
Sphingolipidoses
Frontotemporal dementia
Central Nervous System Neoplasms
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Brain Diseases
Aphasia, Primary Progressive
Signs and Symptoms
Metabolism, Inborn Errors
Niemann-Pick Diseases
Histiocytosis
Mental Disorders
Primary progressive aphasia
Brain Diseases, Metabolic, Inborn
Dementia
Neurobehavioral Manifestations
Nervous System Neoplasms
Niemann-Pick Disease
Delirium
Speech Disorders
Metabolic Diseases
Aphasia
Lysosomal Storage Diseases
Alzheimer Disease
Sphingolipidosis
Language Disorders
Central Nervous System Diseases
Cognition Disorders
Niemann-Pick Disease, Type C

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Neoplasms
Reticuloendotheliosis
Neoplasms by Site
Lysosomal Storage Diseases, Nervous System
Nervous System Diseases
Histiocytosis, Non-Langerhans-Cell
Tauopathies

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on January 15, 2009