MIND MAPS HD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
SYNAPTIC BIOMARKER AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE STUDY IN SUBJECTS WITH PRE-MANIFEST AND EARLY MANIFEST HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE
IRAS ID
312674
Contact name
Marios Politis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a progressive disease of the nervous system. The cause of HD is a genetic mutation to a gene called HTT. We know that people carrying this mutation will eventually show signs and symptoms of the disease, but we still don’t know how to stop this process. We know that some small changes in the function of the cells of the brain may be detected before the onset of the symptoms. This is important because we may study early signs of disease and see how they progress over time. These signs are called biomarkers. It is thought that, if we succeed to describe an early biomarker of progression of disease, we could know much more about why the disease occurs and could design tailored therapies to prevent the disease to progress.
In this research, we will study biomarkers of HD using some scans of the brain. A scan is a special exam in which we take a picture of the brain to analyse for any alterations. We will use two types of scans called Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
In this study we will investigate two components of the brain cells that are thought to be altered in HD. The mitochondria, and the synapses. To do so, we will perform two PET scans, one with a radiotracer called [18F]BCPP-EF, and one with a radiotracer called [11C]UCB-J at baseline, and after approximately one year (follow-up), and one MRI scan at baseline, and at follow-up. The main aim is to describe if, and how much, an alteration of the mitochondria and of the synapses contribute to the generation and the progression of symptoms of HD, and if they can become biomarkers of HD.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
22/NS/0130
Date of REC Opinion
24 Oct 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion