Progress of microglial targeting PET imaging on translocator protein in Parkinson′s disease

Abstract

Neuroinflammation has been a key pathological process in many neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson′s disease (PD), while the microglial activation is not only involved in but also regarded as a hallmark of the neuroinflammation. With PET, it has become possible to image in vivo the changes of microglia cells under different pathophysiological conditions. In this review, the basic theory of translocator protein (TSPO)-targeting PET (TSPO-PET) imaging is well described and its intriguing applications in PD are also elaborated. Key words: Parkinson disease; Microglia; Positron-emission tomography; Translocator protein; Trends