Clinical and pathological features affecting cardiac sympathetic denervation in autopsy‐confirmed dementia with Lewy bodies

Background and purposeThe aim was to clarify the features affecting cardiac sympathetic denervation in autopsy‐confirmed dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients.MethodsFifty‐four autopsy‐confirmed DLB patients were enrolled. Tissue samples of the left ventricular anterior wall were immunostained with anti‐tyrosine hydroxylase antibody to identify catecholaminergic nerve axons. Immunostained areas were quantified as residual cardiac sympathetic nerve (CSN) axons and the relationship between the degree of residual CSN axons and clinical and neuropathological features was examined.ResultsVirtually all patients showed small amounts of residual CSN axons (0.87%, range 0.02%–9.98%), with 50 patients (92.6%) showing <2.0% of residual axons. The patients who showed psychological symptoms within the first year of the disease had significantly more residual CSN axons than the remaining patients did (1.50% vs. 0.40%, P < 0.01). Patients with a short disease duration and neocortical‐type Lewy body pathology tended to have more preserved CSN axons, although this difference was not statistically significant. Fifty‐three patients (98.1%) who had neurofibrillary tangles in the brain and strong concomitant Alzheimer’s disease pathology also had statistically significantly more preserved CSN axons. The patient with the most preserved CSN axons showed different characteristics from the results, except for the first symptom.ConclusionPsychological symptoms within the first year of the disease, a short disease duration, neocortical‐type Lewy body pathology and strong concomitant Alzheimer’s disease pathology may be related to mild CSN degeneration in DLB patients. Thus, DLB patients with broad Lewy body pathology in the brain in the early stages may show mild CSN degeneration.