Substantia nigral dopamine transporter uptake in dementia with Lewy bodies

Nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration is a pathological hallmark of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). To identify the subregional dopamine transporter (DAT) uptake patterns that improve the diagnostic accuracy of DLB, we analyzed N-(3-[18F] fluoropropyl)-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)-nortropane (FP-CIT) PET in 51 patients with DLB, in 36 patients with mild cognitive impairment with Lewy body (MCI-LB), and in 40 healthy controls (HCs). In addition to a high affinity for DAT, FP-CIT show a modest affinity to serotonin or norepinephrine transporters. Specific binding ratios (SBRs) of the nigrostriatal subregions were transformed to age-adjusted z-scores (zSBR) based on HCs. The diagnostic accuracy of subregional zSBRs were tested using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses separately for MCI-LB and DLB versus HCs. Then, the effect of subregional zSBRs on the presence of clinical features and gray matter (GM) density were evaluated in all patients with MCI-LB or DLB as a group. ROC curve analyses showed that the diagnostic accuracy of DLB based on the zSBR of substantia nigra (area under the curve [AUC], 0.90) or those for MCI-LB (AUC, 0.87) were significantly higher than that based on the zSBR of posterior putamen for DLB (AUC, 0.72) or MCI-LB (AUC, 0.65). Lower zSBRs in nigrostriatal regions were associated with visual hallucination, severe parkinsonism, and cognitive dysfunction, while lower zSBR of substantia nigra was associated with widespread GM atrophy in DLB and MCI-LB patients. Taken together, our results suggest that evaluation of nigral DAT uptake may increase the diagnostic accuracy of DLB and MCI-LB than other striatal regions.