Amyloid Pathology Influences Aβ 1-42 Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Abstract

A significant proportion of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) show Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology like senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), such as amyloid-β_1-42 (Aβ_1-42), total tau (T-tau), and hyperphosphorylated tau (P-tau_181P), are linked to the different pathological hallmarks of AD. We set up a study to investigate the influence of AD co-pathology on CSF biomarker concentrations and profiles in autopsy-confirmed DLB. DLB patients with senile plaques showed significantly lower CSF Aβ_1-42 concentrations than DLB patients without senile plaques, but not compared to the AD patients. There were no significant differences in CSF T-tau or P-tau_181P concentrations between DLB patients with and without neurofibrillary tangles. A correlation was found between the number of APOE ε4 alleles and Aβ_1-42 CSF levels in DLB patients with senile plaques. Although the CSF biomarkers Aβ_1-42, T-tau, and P-tau_181P have an added diagnostic value for the differential dementia diagnosis, concomitant amyloid pathology in DLB limits the use of CSF Aβ_1-42 for the differential diagnosis of AD versus DLB.