Positron emission tomography imaging of tau pathology in progressive supranuclear palsy

Progressive supranuclear palsy is a rare form of atypical Parkinsonism that differs neuropathologically from other parkinsonian disorders. While many parkinsonian disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and multiple system atrophy are classified as synucleinopathies, progressive supranuclear palsy is coined a tauopathy due to the aggregation of pathological tau in the brain. [¹⁸F]AV-1451 (also known as [¹⁸F]-T807) is a positron emission tomography radiotracer that binds to paired helical filaments of tau in Alzheimer’s disease. We investigated whether [¹⁸F]AV-1451 could be used as biomarker for the diagnosis and disease progression monitoring in progressive supranuclear palsy. Six progressive supranuclear palsy, six Parkinson’s disease, and 10 age-matched healthy controls were recruited. An anatomical MRI and a 90-min PET scan, using [¹⁸F]AV-1451, were acquired from all participants. The standardized uptake value ratio from 60 to 90 min post-injection was calculated in each region of interest, using the cerebellar cortex as a reference region. No significant differences in standardized uptake value ratios were detected in our progressive supranuclear palsy group compared to the two control groups. [¹⁸F]AV-1451 may bind selectivity to the paired helical filaments in Alzheimer’s disease, which differ from the straight conformation of tau filaments in progressive supranuclear palsy.