Dementia with Lewy bodies: choline acetyltransferase parallels nucleus basalis pathology |
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Authors: | C F Lippa T W Smith E Perry |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Neurology, MCP-Hahnemann, Philadelphia, PA, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, U.S.A., US;(2) Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, U.S.A., US;(3) MRC Neurochemical Pathology Unit, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle, United Kingdom, GB |
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Abstract: | Summary. The biological substrate underlying the reduced cortical choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
is incompletely understood. We compared cortical ChAT levels with Lewy body densities and neuronal loss in the nucleus basalis
of Meynert (nbM) and cerebral cortex in six DLB, seven Alzheimer's disease (AD), and six control cases. We found greater neuronal
loss in the nbM in DLB compared to AD (U = 9.500, p = 0.049). Mean ChAT levels in the cortex were lower in dementia patients
than controls (t = 17.500, p = 0.001), and DLB cases had slightly lower ChAT levels than AD cases, but this difference was
not significant (t = −0.332, p = 0.746). Overall, cortical ChAT levels correlated inversely with neuronal loss in the nbM
(Spearman rank correlation coefficient = −0.53). The correlation between ChAT level and the combined factor of nbM LBs and
neuronal loss was −0.59. A similar correlation between ChAT level and the combined factor of nbM neurofibrillary tangles and
neuronal loss was −0.72. The correlation between ChAT and the combined factor of nbM LBs and neuronal loss was −0.81 when
AD cases were excluded from the analysis. Local cortical pathology was not related to ChAT level. We conclude that neuronal
loss and Lewy body formation in the nbM may contribute to the reduction in cortical ChAT in DLB.
Received September 1, 1998; accepted November 18, 1998 |
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Keywords: | : Acetylcholine Alzheimer's disease ChAT dementia Lewy body nucleus basalis of Meynert |
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