Takeaway
PET/MRI imaging with radioligands of the translocator protein (TSPO), which is present on all brain cells, is able to detect mitochondrial pathologies of the brain, and more specifically a positive correlation was found between abnormal radioligand binding potential and clinical severity.
Why this matters ?
TSPO is localised to the outer mitochondrial membrane in brain cell types and can serve as a potential in vivo biomarker for mitochondrial disease.
This study’s findings suggest that PET/MRI imaging with TSPO radioligands has the potential as a non-invasive biomarker of the central nervous system affected by mitochondrial disease and associated disease progression.