Amyloid imaging in clinical trials

Abstract

The possibility to map amyloid-beta, the Alzheimer's disease hallmark protein, in vivo opens the application for amyloid imaging in clinical trials with disease-modifying agents. Monitoring change in amyloid burden, particularly when potential amyloid-lowering drugs are at play, requires accurate analytical methods. Studies to date have used suboptimal methods that do not account for heterogeneous changes in flow associated with disease progression and potentially with anti-amyloid drugs. In this commentary, we discuss practical and methodological issues regarding longitudinal amyloid imaging and propose several quantitative, yet feasible, alternatives for reliable assessment of changes over time in amyloid burden. © 2013 BioMed Central Ltd.