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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Judith HarrisonORCiD, Dr Sean CollobyORCiD, Professor John-Paul TaylorORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025. The Author(s). BACKGROUND: Cholinergic dysfunction, particularly involving nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), contributes to cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), yet spatial covariance patterns remain unexplored. We aimed to characterise these patterns using 123I-5-iodo-3-[2(S)-2-azetidinylmethoxy] pyridine (5IA-85380) SPECT (α4β2 nAChR assessment) and examine their association with cognitive function. METHODS: Fifteen DLB and 16 healthy controls underwent 1235IA-85380 and rCBF 99mTc-exametazime SPECT scanning. Voxel principal components analysis (PCA), generated PC images representing common intercorrelated voxels across subjects. Linear regression identified α4β2 nAChR and rCBF patterns distinguishing DLB from controls. RESULTS: A distinct α4β2 nAChR pattern differentiated DLB from controls (F1,29 = 165.1, p < 0.001), that was dissimilar to rCBF changes. This pattern was characterised by decreased uptake in temporal pole, inferior frontal cortex, amygdala, olfactory cortex, insula, anterior/mid cingulate, and putamen, alongside preserved/increased uptake in sensorimotor cortex, fusiform and occipital lobe. These regions mapped onto default, salience, limbic, frontostriatal, sensorimotor and visual hubs. We then derived from patients, α4β2 nAChR patterns that correlated with CAMCOGtotal (r = - 0.52, p = 0.04), MMSE (r = - 0.68, p = 0.01) and CAMCOGmemory (r = - 0.70, p = 0.01), demonstrating a common topography of relative decreased binding in lateral/medial prefrontal, lateral temporal, fusiform, inferior parietal and thalamus along with relative preserved/increased binding in cingulate, insula, occipital and medial temporal regions: structures within a range of networks supporting executive, language, attention, motor and visual processing. CONCLUSION: These findings provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of DLB and may inform future therapeutic strategies targeting nAChRs.
Author(s): Harrison JR, Colloby SJ, O'Brien JT, Taylor J-P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Neurology
Year: 2025
Volume: 272
Issue: 10
Online publication date: 29/09/2025
Acceptance date: 12/08/2025
Date deposited: 13/10/2025
ISSN (print): 0340-5354
ISSN (electronic): 1432-1459
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-025-13332-5
DOI: 10.1007/s00415-025-13332-5
Data Access Statement: The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the inclusion of potentially identifiable clinical data and ethical restrictions. However, anonymised data may be made available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, subject to approval by the relevant institutional ethics committee
PubMed id: 41021047
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