5th EuropEan MolEcular IMagIng MEEtIng - ESMI

5th EuropEan MolEcular IMagIng MEEtIng – EMIM2010
Preclinical imaging of the type 1 cannabinoid receptor in neurodegenerative diseases
Casteels C. (1) , Van Laere K. (1) .
University Leuven, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Belgium
cindy.casteels@med.kuleuven.be
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is an important
modulatory system in the brain. It consists of a family
of naturally occurring lipids, the endocannabinoids,
of transport and degradation proteins, and of
cannabinoid receptors. Type 1 cannabinoid (CB1)
receptors are abundantly expressed in all brain areas,
especially those involved in the control of motor
function. CB1 receptor stimulation modulates
GABA, glutamate and dopamine neurotransmitter
release in a dynamic activity manner.1
Dysregulation of cannabinoid-mediated control
of basal ganglia function have been suggested to
play a critical role in the pathogenesis and symptom
development of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and
Huntington’s disease (HD), providing rationale for
potential ECS-targeted therapy in these diseases.2
However, at present, limited clinical pilot trials have
been inconclusive. As only in vitro, ex vivo and
post mortem data on the ECS existed until recently,
functional in vivo imaging may play an important
role in the further evaluation of the neurobiological
and clinical impact of the ECS in PD and HD.
Here, we present the in vivo characterization of CB1
receptor alterations in preclinical models of PD and
HD using PET and [18F]MK-94703. Both genetic
and toxin-based experimental models will be presented.
Their relevance to mimic the human condition
will be discussed as well.
Acknowledgement: Financial support of the Research
Council of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
(OT/05/58), the Fund for Scientific Research,
Flanders, Belgium (FWO/G.0548.06), and the Institute
for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and
Technology in Flanders (SBO50151) is gratefully
acknowledged. This work is performed under European
Commission FP6-project DiMI,LSHB-CT-
2005-512146
References:
1. Katona et al., Nat. Med. 2008;
2. Maccarrone et al., Prog. Neurobiol. 2007;
3. Burns et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2007.
EuropEan SocIEty for MolEcular IMagIng – ESMI
YIA applicant
day1
Parallel Session 2: NEUROSCIENCE I