Molecular imaging and biology : MIB : the official publication of the Academy of Molecular Imaging
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Comparative Study
[11C]-DPA-713 and [18F]-DPA-714 as new PET tracers for TSPO: a comparison with [11C]-(R)-PK11195 in a rat model of herpes encephalitis.
Activation of microglia cells plays an important role in neurological diseases. Positron emission tomography (PET) with [(11)C]-(R)-PK11195 has already been used to visualize activated microglia cells in neurological diseases. However, [(11)C]-(R)-PK11195 may not possess the required sensitivity to visualize mild neuroinflammation. In this study, we evaluated the PET tracers [(11)C]-DPA-713 and [(18)F]-DPA-714 as agents for imaging of activated microglia in a rat model of herpes encephalitis. ⋯ [(11)C]-DPA-713 may be more suitable for visualizing mild inflammation than [(11)C]-(R)-PK11195. In addition, the fact that [(18)F]-DPA-714 is an agonist PET tracer opens new possibilities to evaluate different aspects of neuroinflammation. Therefore, both tracers warrant further investigation in animal models and in a clinical setting.