[18F] AV-45 PET Amyloid Binding Imaging for Non-Demented Patients with Late-Life Depression

Some systematic review and meta-analysis studies had revealed that a life-time history of depression may confer an increased risk for later developing Alzheimer disease (AD). Depression reflects an independent risk factor for AD. These findings may have implications to investigate the etiology of AD. Amyloid senile plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles are neuropathologic hallmarks of Alzheimer disease, which may be associated with mood and anxiety symptoms years before mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD diagnosis. To address this issue, this study will obtain positron emission tomography (PET) scans of [18F] AV-45 to determine whether late-life major depression in nondemented subjects were associated with increased [18F] AV-45 binding values, to identify characteristic patterns of brain regions of [18F] AV-45 binding in patients with late-life depression and to verify the hypothesis that depression is one of the independent risk factors of AD. Expectation of contribution of this study would add to the understanding of the pathophysiology of late-life depression, the identification of patients ‘at risk’ for developing dementia over time, the reciprocal interaction between white matter hyperintensities and amyloid plaques and pathways linking late-life depression to persistent cognitive impairment and dementia.

Project ID:PC10007-1165
External Project ID:NSC100-2314-B182-041