Neuroimaging of Inflammation in MemoRy and Other Disorders (NIMROD) v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Neuroimaging of inflammation in memory and other disorders (NIMROD). A study of the role of brain inflammation in dementia, depression and other neurological illnesses.
IRAS ID
117275
Contact name
John O'Brien
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridge University Joint Sponsors
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
The immune system of the brain, traditionally believed to be absent, is now known to be sophisticated but it remains hard to study in life, due to its high degree of protection from the rest of the body. We have long been able to examine some signs of general central nervous system inflammation by assessing chemical markers in the cerebrospinal fluid. More recent technical developments allow us to use brain imaging methods (PET) together with marked chemicals that bind onto the inflammation-related cells in the brain when they are activated to visualise sites of inflammation. We can also use a similar technique to visualise the location of certain toxins in the brain regarded as definitive of Alzheimer's disease. This localisation can be made more accurate by co-registration of the PET images with MR imaging which is also valuable to study changes in both the structure and in the different tissue types in the brain. Previously such study has only been possible post mortem.
By using these methods we intend to clarify how inflammation is related to certain neurodegenerative and other cognitive disorders and thereby enhance early diagnosis; we will also also explore how addressing neuroinflammation may be used to treat and even prevent such diseases as well as to differentiate between them. Neuroinflammation is associated with the pathology of dementia and increasing evidence suggests it may play a pivotal role in pathogenesis and so potentially be both an early disease marker and a therapeutic target. We will undertake PET imaging, MRI and biomarker studies with longitudinal follow-up in different patient groups, as well as in similarly aged controls, to further explore this relationship. In particular, we wish to determine the role that inflammation plays in the genesis of different types of dementia, and in key subgroups at risk of dementia, and whether its presence determines clinically important outcomes, including symptom expression and subsequent rate of cognitive and functional decline.REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/EE/0104
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jun 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion