PET imaging of the noradrenaline system in different neurodegenerative conditions

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

all participants:
•age between 50 - 80 years

Healthy volunteers:
•Willingness to cooperate and sign written informed consent.

Participants with Alzheimer's disease:
•Diagnosis of AD according to the criteria from the National Institute on
Aging-Alzheimer*s Association (NIA-AA)
Willingness to cooperate and sign written informed consent.
•MMSE score between 18-26 (inclusive);

Participants with Parkinson's disease
• Willingness to cooperate and sign written informed consent.
•Diagnosis of PD according to the London Parkinson*s disease society brain
criteria

Participants with Parkinson's disease and dementia:
• Willingness to cooperate and sign written informed consent.
•Diagnosis of PD according to the London Parkinson*s disease society brain
criteria
• MMSE score between 18-26 (inclusive);

Participants with Down Syndrome:
•availability of a caregiver/proxy who will be present at visits.

Participants with Downsyndrome & dementia
•availability of a caregiver/proxy who will be present at visits.
•A Clinical diagnosis of AD based on the Dementia Scale for Down Syndrome
(Gedye A., 1995. Dementia Scale for Down Syndrome. Vancouver, BC: Gedye
Research and Consulting) and on the Behavioral and Pyschological Symptoms of
Dementia in Down Syndrome (BPSD-DS) scale (Dekker A.D. et al., 2018) developed
by our group and recently optimized (in press, Dekker A.D. et al., 2021).

Exclusion Criteria

All participants:
•usage of any medication that affects the noradrenaline system
•Pregnancy
•Contra-indications for MRI or PET (such as claustrophobia)
• brain MRI evidence of any structural abnormality, such as major stroke or
mass that is likely to interfere with the interpretation of the PET scan;
•Past or present developmental disorder or psychiatric disorder (expect for
Down's syndrom)

Healthy volunteers:
• Abnormal results on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (<27);
• (Subjective) memory complaints;
• Absence of signed informed consent form

Participants with Alzheimer's Disease:
• History of neurological conditions other than AD;
• Absence of signed informed consent form

Participants with Parkinson's disease
• History of neurological conditions other than PD;
• Absence of signed informed consent form
• Past or present developmental disorder or psychiatric disorder

Participants with Parkinson's disease and dementia:
• History of neurological conditions other than PD-D;
• Absence of signed informed consent form.

Participants with Down's Syndrome:
• Absence of signed informed consent form or of caretaker/study partner (proxy
consent and assent).

Participants with Down's syndrome & dementia
• Absence of signed informed consent form or of caretaker/study partner (proxy
consent and assent).

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Several values will be computed from the PET data and between group results are<br /><br>statistically compared: NET binding potentials (BP) will be computed for each<br /><br>region of interest (LC and projection areas), .and between-group differences<br /><br>will be investigated.</p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Correlations between results on the MMSE, NPI, PSQI, ADL en iADL scales and the<br /><br>noradrenaline activity will be investigated. We will also look for<br /><br>between-group differences.</p><br>