ReviewMolecular psychiatry2025
PET imaging of neuroinflammation: any credible alternatives to TSPO yet?
Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed.
- The NLRP3 inflammasome: pathophysiology and therapeutic implications for schizophrenia and neuropsychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- The role of dopamine decline, astrocyte reactivity and cerebral small-vessel disease in cognitive aging.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026Article
- Neuropathological correlates of imaging in dementia with Lewy bodies.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Review
- MicroRNA and Alzheimer's disease: Diagnostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammation: an unfortunate term to describe schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- The past, present, and future of Alzheimer's disease-part 3: the future.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2026Review
- Transglutaminase and its role in Alzheimer's disease: focus on mitochondria, aging, defective mitophagy, synaptic degeneration, and metabolomics.GeroScience · 2026Review
- [11C]CS1P1 PET links T-cell-associated immune activation with endothelial and astrocytic responses.Research square · 2026Article
- A Holistic Approach to Identifying a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Tracer Candidate for In Vivo Imaging of Purinergic P2X7 Receptor in Neuroinflammation.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2026Article
- Neuro-Immune Crosstalk: Molecular Mechanisms, Biological Functions, Diseases, and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2026Review
- Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation in Dialogue: Mapping Gaps, Modulating Microglia, Rewiring Aging.Cells · 2026Review
- Molecular imaging of stem cell therapies in ischemic stroke.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025Review
- From Early Adversity to Neurodegeneration: Stress Biomarkers as Predictive Signals for Lifespan Brain Health.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- IND-Enabling Preclinical Studies of [Medicinal chemistry research : an international journal for rapid communications on design and mechanisms of action of biologically active agents · 2025Article
- IND-Enabling Preclinical Studies of [11C]COU, a Trapped Metabolite PET Radiotracer for Monoamine Oxidase-B.Research square · 2025Article
- Imaging markers of neuroinflammation in aging and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia: A comprehensive review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- Development of Carborane-Based Benzothiazole Analogues as Cannabinoid Receptor Type 2 (CBACS omega · 2025Article
- Brain Tumors, AI and Psychiatry: Predicting Tumor-Associated Psychiatric Syndromes with Machine Learning and Biomarkers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Emerging PET-radiotracers in cardiovascular, neuro-inflammation, lung and rheumatological diseases: a narrative review.EJNMMI reports · 2025Review
- Association of white matter injury and neuroinflammation in the post-acute phase after ischemic stroke using [EJNMMI research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Over the last decades, the role of neuroinflammation in neuropsychiatric conditions has attracted an exponentially growing interest. A key driver for this trend was the ability to image brain inflammation in vivo using PET radioligands targeting the Translocator Protein 18 kDa (TSPO), which is known to be expressed in activated microglia and astrocytes upon inflammatory events as well as constitutively in endothelial cells. TSPO is a mitochondrial protein that is expressed mostly by microglial cells upon activation but is also expressed by astrocytes in some conditions and constitutively by endothelial cells. Therefore, our current understanding of neuroinflammation dynamics is hampered by the lack of alternative targets available for PET imaging. We performed a systematic search and review on radiotracers developed for neuroinflammation PET imaging apart from TSPO. The following targets of interest were identified through literature screening (including previous narrative reviews): P2Y12R, P2X7R, CSF1R, COX (microglial targets), MAO-B, I2BS (astrocytic targets), CB2R & S1PRs (not specific of a single cell type). We determined the level of development and provided a scoping review for each target. Strikingly, astrocytic biomarker MAO-B has progressed in clinical investigations the furthest, while few radiotracers (notably targeting S1P1Rs, CSF1R) are being implemented in clinical investigations. Other targets such as CB2R and P2X7R have proven disappointing in clinical studies (e.g. poor signal, lack of changes in disease conditions, etc.). While astrocytic targets are promising, development of new biomarkers and tracers specific for microglial activation has proven challenging.
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Registered trials
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