Eduardo Zimmer

Please join us on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, at 10 am for the next talk in the International Dementia Conference Series,  hosted by the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging.
Astrocytes in FDG PET signal

Speaker: Dr. Eduardo Zimmer 
Assistant Professor in Pharmacology
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Talk description: 
Brain glucose utilization has been widely assessed in clinical settings with fluorine-18 fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. FDG-PET allows for differential diagnosis in brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Its biological interpretation assumes that FDG-PET signal is tightly connected to neuronal activity. However, the dynamics of glucose utilization by brain cells remain not fully understood. A complex interplay between neurons and astrocytes seems to coordinate brain energetics. Indeed, astrocytes take up large amounts of glucose and, thus, it is intuitive that they impact FDG-PET signal. We recently demonstrated that glutamate transport via GLT-1, which is mainly located on astrocytes, acts as a trigger, signaling for glucose uptake. Our findings provide in vivo evidence that FDG-PET signal indicates more than just neuronal activity, with major implications in its interpretation.

Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 882 0365 2054

Passcode: 989944