¹⁹F and ¹H MRI detection of amyloid β plaques in vivo

Formation of senile plaques composed of amyloid β peptide, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer disease, in human brains precedes disease onset by many years. Noninvasive detection of such plaques could be critical in presymptomatic diagnosis and could contribute to early preventive treatment strategies. Using amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice as a model of amyloid β amyloidosis, we demonstrate here that an intravenously administered ¹⁹F-containing amyloidophilic compound labels brain plaques and allows them to be visualized in living mice by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using ¹⁹F and ¹H. Our findings provide a new direction for specific noninvasive amyloid imaging without the danger of exposure to radiation. This approach could be used in longitudinal studies in mouse models of Alzheimer disease to search for biomarkers associated with amyloid β pathology as well as to track disease course after treatment with candidate medications.