Correlation between clinical symptoms and striatal DAT uptake in patients with DLB

Abstract

Objective: It is widely known that there is low striatal 123I-FP-CIT dopamine transporter-single photon emission tomography (DAT-SPECT) uptake in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We assessed the correlation between symptom and regional low DAT uptake in the striatum. Methods: Patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (n = 95) and patients with DLB (n = 133) who underwent DAT-SPECT were enrolled. We examined the correlation between symptoms [cognitive function decline, fluctuations, visual hallucinations, parkinsonism, and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD)] and regional striatal DAT uptake in the patients with DLB. Results: When comparing the DLB patients with or without fluctuations, visual hallucinations, or RBD, there were no significant differences in DAT uptake in any regions of the striatum. DLB patients with parkinsonism had significantly lower DAT uptake in entire striatum, entire putamen, and anterior putamen compared to DLB patients without parkinsonism. Moreover, there was weak but significant correlation between severity of parkinsonism and DAT uptake in entire regions of the striatum in patients with DLB. There was no significant correlation between cognitive function and DAT uptake in any regions of the striatum in patients with DLB. Conclusions: In patients with DLB, only parkinsonism is associated with a reduction in striatal DAT uptake.