Positron emission tomography (PET) technology, which can track the metabolic activity of cholesterol in the brain, has been developed. It is expected to help early detection of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
A research team at the Massachusetts Hospital affiliated with Harvard University in the United States succeeded in confirming the metabolic activity of cholesterol by imaging an enzyme that breaks down cholesterol in the brain, and published the research results in the international scientific journal ‘Science Translational Medicine’ on the 5th (local time). .
According to the research team, cholesterol accumulated in the brain is the cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Observing the metabolic activity of cholesterol synthesis or decomposition can predict disease early, but it was not easy to confirm the metabolic activity of cholesterol in the brain of a living person. PET scan is originally used to check the metabolic activity of carbohydrates such as glucose in the body, because cholesterol is a fatty substance.
The research team focused on ‘CYP46A1’, an enzyme that breaks down cholesterol in the brain. In the brain, there is a protein complex ‘ATAD3A’ involved in cholesterol accumulation, and when this protein complex is entangled, the expression of CYP46A1, an enzyme that breaks down cholesterol in the brain, is suppressed. It is explained that by examining the expression level of CYP46A1, the metabolic activity of cholesterol can be estimated.
The research team developed a PET device named ‘F-Cholestify’ to take CYP46A1. Using the device, CYP46A1 was imaged in the brains of healthy rats and rats with neurodegenerative diseases.
As a result of the analysis, the expression level of CYP46A1 was found to be consistent with the increase or decrease of cholesterol collected from the brains of experimental animals. The same results were confirmed in non-human primate animals and in donated human brain tissue.
The research team said, “The results of this study showed that cholesterol metabolism activity in the brain can be confirmed through PET scan.