Severe cholinergic terminal loss in newly diagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies

In conclusion, this study provides robust evidence for severe cholinergic terminal loss in newly diagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies, which correlates with structural imaging measures of cholinergic basal forebrain degeneration. In patients without dementia, our findings suggest that loss of cholinergic terminal function occurs ‘before’ neuronal cell degeneration. Moreover, the study supports that degeneration of the cholinergic system is important for brain metabolism and may be linked with degeneration in other transmitter systems. Our findings have implications for understanding how cholinergic system pathology cont ributes to the clinical features of Lewy body disease, changes in brain metabolism and disease progression patterns.
Source: Brain - Category: Neurology Source Type: research