Nicotinic receptor losses in dementia with Lewy bodies: comparisons with Alzheimer’s disease

We sought to delineate differences between α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) levels in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and age matched controls, as well as the correlations between α7 or non-α7 nAChR levels and synaptophysin (Syn) or choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in DLB. Mean bungarotoxin (Bgt) binding was 2.7 ± 1.1 for controls, 2.4 ± 1.0 for AD and 1.4 ± 0.5 for DLB. There were significant decreases in Bgt binding for the DLB group compared to either controls or AD. Mean epibatidine (Epi) binding was 14.8 ± 3.2 for controls, 6.3 ± 3.2 for AD and 7.1 ± 2.4 fmoles/mg protein for DLB. Epi binding in both the AD and DLB groups was significantly lower than in the controls. Although Syn loss correlated with the decrease in Epi binding in both diseases, declining ChAT levels correlated with Epi binding only in DLB. These data demonstrate a different pattern of nAChR loss in AD and DLB that may, in part, explain some of the differences in the two phenotypes.