Objective: To investigate the effect of amyloid on striatal 18F-FP-CIT uptake patterns in Lewy body disease (LBD), including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).
Background: Along with Lewy bodies, concomitant Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology is not uncommon and contributes to the clinical characteristics of LBD. In this study, we hypothesized that amyloid pathology may interact in a different manner with the nigral dopaminergic system in DLB and PD; therefore, the patterns of nigrostriatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability would differ.
Method: We enrolled 125 patients with LBD (82 patients with DLB and 43 patients with PD) who underwent 18F-florbetaben positron emission tomography (PET), and 18F-FP-CIT PET. Patients were divided into amyloid-positive and amyloid-negative groups. We investigated the effect of amyloid on the striatal DAT availability, depending on the type of LBD, using general linear models with interaction analysis, after controlling for age, sex, education, deep white matter hyperintensity (WMH), periventricular WMH, and the cognitive status.
Results: There was a significant interaction effect between the disease group and the presence of amyloid on DAT availability in the anterior putamen, posterior putamen, caudate, and ventral striatum. In the presence of amyloid, only the PD group exhibited decreased DAT availability in the anterior putamen and posterior putamen. In both groups, the presence of amyloid was not associated with DAT availability in the caudate and ventral striatum. The presence of amyloid was not directly related to the worse parkinsonian motor symptoms in both groups. However, there was significant indirect effect of amyloid on the parkinsonian motor symptoms which was mediated by anterior and posterior putaminal DAT availability in the PD group alone.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates different amyloid-dependent or amyloid-independent 18F-FP-CIT PET patterns in patients with LBD, suggesting distinctive interactions between α-synuclein and amyloid pathology based on the type of LBD.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
K. Baik, J. Cha, M. Park, Y. Lee, SW. Kang, SH. Yoon, H. Na, Y. Sohn, P. Lee. Distinct amyloid-dependent patterns of nigral dopamine depletion in Lewy body diseases [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2022; 37 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/distinct-amyloid-dependent-patterns-of-nigral-dopamine-depletion-in-lewy-body-diseases/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2022 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/distinct-amyloid-dependent-patterns-of-nigral-dopamine-depletion-in-lewy-body-diseases/