A quantitative DOPA decarboxylase biomarker for diagnosis in Lewy body disorders - PubMed
6 days ago
- #biomarker
- #DOPA decarboxylase
- #Lewy body disorders
- DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) is a promising cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker for diagnosing dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease (PD).
- Two DDC immunoassays were developed and validated across multiple clinical cohorts, showing significantly higher DDC levels in DLB and PD (up to 2.5-fold vs. controls).
- CSF DDC levels demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy with area under the curve values > 0.9 for differentiating DLB and PD from other conditions.
- Elevated CSF DDC was associated with the presence of motor impairment but not its severity.
- In autopsy-confirmed DLB, higher CSF DDC correlated with progressing α-synuclein pathology, and immunohistochemistry revealed colocalization of DDC and α-synuclein in the substantia nigra.
- The study supports the clinical implementation of DDC as a biomarker for DLB and PD diagnosis using the newly developed immunoassays.