Lewy Body Dementia Shared Genetic Factors with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
Date：2021-12-13
Overlapping symptoms of neurological disorders
Neurological disorders often demonstrate overlapping symptoms, yet the
molecular mechanisms behind the overlap was poorly understood. Memory
loss is the major symptom that happens in Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) and
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), it is sometimes also found in late-stage Parkinson’s Disease (PD). On
the other hand, motor function loss affects not only patients with PD,
but also patients with late-stage LBD. Therefore, patients with LBD may
be misdiagnosed as AD or PD.
A recent study published in Nature Genetics has provided a deeper
understanding of neurological disorders’ similarities at a molecular
level, as well as the shared risk genes between LBD, AD, and PD.
Lewy Body Dementia Shared Risk Genes with Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s
APOE and B1N1 gene, which are the known risk genes of
Alzheimer’s disease, were found to be related to Lewy Body Dementia.
GBA, SNCA, and TMEM175 genes are associated with
the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia. In
this study, B1N1 and TMEM175 were first implicated in Lewy
Body Dementia pathogenesis.
This study has provided a deeper understanding of Lewy Body Dementia. It
also pinpoints the importance of
molecular diagnosis. By determining the specific dementia-causing gene, it helps
clinicians to plan personalized treatments for LBD patients.
Source:
Chia R, et al. Genome sequencing analysis identifies new loci
associated with Lewy body dementia and provides insights into its
genetic architecture. Nature Genetics.
2021;doi:10.1038/s41588-021-00785-3.
