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Letter
Increased [11C]PIB-PET levels in inclusion body myositis are indicative of amyloid β deposition
  1. Walter Maetzler1,2,
  2. Matthias Reimold3,
  3. Jens Schittenhelm4,
  4. Matthias Vorgerd5,
  5. Antje Bornemann4,
  6. Ina Kötter6,
  7. Christina Pfannenberg7,
  8. Gerald Reischl8,
  9. Ludger Schöls1
  1. 1Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  2. 2DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  3. 3Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Centre, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  4. 4Institute of Brain Research, Neuropathology, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  5. 5Department of Neurology, Bergmannsheil, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
  6. 6Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  7. 7Department of Diagnostic Radiology and PET Centre, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  8. 8Radiopharmacy, PET Centre, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  1. Correspondence to Dr G Reischl, Radiopharmacy, PET Centre, University of Tuebingen, Roentgenweg 15, Tuebingen 72076, Germany; gerald.reischl{at}uni-tuebingen.de

https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2009.197640

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    Introduction

    Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PIB), a 11C-labelled substituted benzothiazole, is a positron emission tomography (PET) marker recently described to detect amyloid β in vivo in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.1 As amyloid β is also accumulated and misfolded in sporadic inclusion body myositis (IBM), and PIB has been demonstrated to penetrate the cell membrane,2 it is assumed that [11C]PIB may have the potential to depict amyloid β in the skeletal muscles of IBM patients.

    Methods

    Thirteen subjects with clinical symptoms suggestive of IBM underwent complete clinical workup, including electrophysiology, muscle biopsy and [11C]PIB-PET. Biopsy specimens underwent standard histopathological staining. Based on clinical, electrophysiological and standard histopathological criteria, seven subjects were diagnosed as having IBM, two as having polymyositis, two as having neurogenic muscle atrophy, one as having peripheral neuropathy and one as having myalgia of unclear aetiology.

    Demographic and clinical details as well as biopsy results can be provided by the authors on request. The analysis was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Tuebingen. All subjects gave written informed consent.

    Twenty minutes after intravenous bolus injection of 740MBq [11C]PIB, whole body distribution of radioactivity was measured with a Hi-Rez Biograph 16 (Siemens Medical Solutions, Knoxville, USA), consisting of a high resolution three dimensional LSO PET and a 16 row multi slice CT. PET acquisition time was 3 min per field of view. Patients were measured from the lower leg to the neck to enable interindividual comparison of [11C]PIB uptake. Whole body CT was performed with low radiation dose used for attenuation correction and anatomical …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval The study was conducted with the approval of the ethical commission of the Medical Faculty of the University of Tuebingen.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.