Cerebrospinal fluid markers analysis in the differential diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) share a couple of clinical similarities that is often a source of diagnostic pitfalls. We evaluated the discriminatory potential of brain-derived CSF markers [tau, p-tau (181P), Aβ 1−42 , NSE and S100B] across the spectrum of Lewy body disorders and assessed whether particular markers are associated with cognitive status in investigated patients. The tau CSF level, amyloid β 1−42 and p-tau/tau ratio were helpful in the distinction between DLB and PDD ( p = 0.04, p = 0.002 and p = 0.02, respectively) as well as from PD patients ( p