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Abstract #1006

Imaging of Glutamate Alterations in Alzheimers Disease

Mohammad Haris1, Kavindra Nath2, Kejia Cai1, Anup Singh1, Rachelle Crescenzi1, Feliks Kogan1, Gaurav Verma2, Sanjana Reddy1, Hari Hariharan1, Elias R. Melhem, Ravinder Reddy1

1CMROI, Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Molecular Imaging, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States


Glutamate (Glu) is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in brain and has been shown to decrease in the early stages of Alzheimers disease (AD). Using glutamate amine exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST) method, we imaged the change in [Glu] in APP-PS1 transgenic mouse model of AD at high spatial resolution. Compared to wild-type controls, AD mice exhibited notable reduction of GluCEST contrast (~30%). A positive correlation was observed between GluCEST contrast and 1HMRS measured Glu/total creatine ratio. This method potentially provides a novel noninvasive biomarker for diagnosing the disease in preclinical stages and enables the development of disease modifying therapies for AD.