Microglia's Alzheimer disease inflammatory mechanisms and progress of its common application in PET imaging agents

Alzheimer disease(AD) is considered a continuous and dynamic pathophysiological process. The disease is characterized by a series of neuronal degeneration reactions caused by amyloid plaque(i.e., amyloid-beta, A beta) aggregation leading to decreased neurons, reduced synaptic function, cognitive dysfunction, and, eventually, dementia. Besides the pathological process of A beta, numerous studies have shown that neuroinflammation performs a crucial function in the pathogenesis of AD. The in vivo use of PET to monitor the translocator protein(TSPO) upregulation of activated microglia during inflammation is helpful in diagnosing the disease and detecting treatment responses. This article will review the functions of microglia in neural inflammation and commonly used PET imaging agents. (authors)