Martin Schain, Director PET Imaging at Antaros Medical will be presenting next week at the 15th Neuroreceptor Mapping Conference (NRM 2026). Martin will be presenting results from a study in which positron emission tomography (PET) imaging was used to measure alterations in cerebral perfusion and substrate metabolism in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and in carriers of APOE- ε4.
It has been shown that T2D increases risk for Alzheimer’s diseases (AD), but the mechanisms underpinning this link are largely unknown. This imaging method study was developed to assess whether insulin resistance is accompanied by altered glucose and fatty acid utilisation in the brain as a potential underlying mechanism for the observed link between T2D and neurodegenerative disorders.
Using PET imaging with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and [18F]-fluoro-6-thia-heptadecanoic acid (FTHA) to look at glucose and fatty acid uptake and arterial spin labelling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess perfusion, differences were assessed between lean controls, participants who were overweight but did not have a clinical diagnosis of T2D, and participants with T2D. Post-hoc analyses showed that lean participants who were APOE-ε4 carriers, which is the strongest genetic risk factor for AD, also had alterations in fatty acid uptake.
To hear more, join us for Martin’s presentation at NRM on Monday June 29 at 11:36 CEST. NRM 2026 is held in Uppsala and takes place from 27-30 June.
Abstract identifier: O32
Title: Alterations in cerebral perfusion and substrate metabolism in type 2 diabetes: interactions with APOE- ε4
Authors: Schain M, Johansson E, Laitinen I, Frödén Löwenmark A, Lubberink M, Gummesson A, Danfors T, Nuutila P, Esterline R, Johansson L, Oscarsson J, Heurling K
Oral session 5 – Clinical applications and Neuroinflammation