Imaging effects of Minocycline on Microglia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Imaging effects of Minocycline on Microglia using TSPO PET
IRAS ID
214800
Contact name
Neil Harrison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Depression is a psychiatric condition in which patients feel persistently sad and hopeless. It interferes with activities of daily life, and can be profoundly disabling. Unfortunately, one third of patients with depression fail to improve even with the best currently available treatments.
There is increasing evidence that the immune system, the system dedicated to fighting infections in our body, is in a
state of ‘hyperactivity’ in some patients with depression. This ‘hyperactivity’ (also called inflammation) acts as if
patients were fighting an infective agent, even though they do not have an on-going infection. Recently, we have also discovered that this inflammation can affect the brain and cause activation of brain immune cells known as microglia.A number of pharmaceutical companies are actively developing compounds that inhibit microglial activation as potential therapies for common mental illnesses such as depression and Alzheimer's disease. However, there is currently no way of measuring how well these therapies block microglial activation in humans.
We plan to address this using Minocycline (an antibiotic that is known to inhibit microglial activation in rodents) and a type of brain imaging called Translator Protein (TSPO) PET that can image microglial activation. Microglial cells rapidly become activated during infection or inflammation in the body. We will use lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a safe and commonly used model of inflammation, to briefly activate microglial cells then use TSPO PET to see if this activation can be blocked using Minocycline.
If successful, this study will provide the first method for monitoring the effect of microglial-targeted therapies in humans. This innovation would play an important role in the ongoing testing of microglial-active therapies that are being developed for common mental illnesses such as depression and Alzheimer's disease.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0936
Date of REC Opinion
3 Aug 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion