Tracking Alzheimer's disease in transgenic mice using fluorodeoxyglucose autoradiography

While transgenic mice have great promise in the study of Alzheimer's diseas e (AD), uncertainties remain about the extent to which they provide a model of the disorder or the best way to characterize disease progression. Using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) autoradiography, we found that transgenic mice ov er-expressing a mutant form of the human amyloid precursor protein have pre ferentially and progressively reduced activity in the posterior cingulate c ortex and relatively spared activity in visual cortex, sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum and brain stem, a pattern previously demonstrated in FDG PET st udies of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Brain imaging of posterior cingu late activity could provide an indicator of AD in suitable animals, helping to clarify disease mechanisms and screen candidate treatments. NeuroReport 11:987-991 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.