TSPO-ligand PET imaging in autoimmune epilepsy

Brief description of study

The purpose of this study is to use PET/MRI imaging to measure levels of inflammation in the brain of people with autoimmune epilepsy compared to people with temporal lobe epilepsy without an autoimmune cause and healthy controls. In this study, we will be performing imaging of people with autoimmune epilepsy before starting immune-modulating treatment, people who have temporal lobe epilepsy of non-autoimmune cause, and healthy controls. Position-emission tomography (PET) uses radiation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic fields to create images to provide us information about the structure, function, and metabolism (level of activity and use of nutrients) of different tissues in your body. An investigational tracer (dye) will be used during the PET-portion of the examination to image inflammation in the brain. The name of the tracer is [11C]ER176, and targets cells that are upregulated in brain inflammation states. This tracer has been approved for use in this research study by the Radioactive Drug Research Committee (RDRC), which reviews research studies involving investigational radioactive drugs.


Clinical Study Identifier: s19-01199
Principal Investigator: Claude Steriade.
Other Investigators: Steven H. Baete, Jean Logan, Jacqueline A French, Orrin Devinsky.


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