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Genetic risk and plasma biomarkers of dementia with Lewy bodies in a Chinese population
Xiaoli Hao, Xuewen Xiao, Ling Weng, Zhuojie Lin, Qian Xu, Juan Du, Qijie Yang, Yuan Zhu et al.. NPJ Parkinson's disease, 2025-05-15
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Genetic investigations and associations with plasma biomarkers of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in East Asian populations are lacking. The aim of our study is to identify candidate pathogenic variants and assess the diagnostic performance of plasma biomarkers among DLB patients in the Chinese population. This cohort included 151 DLB patients and 2010 controls, all of whom underwent whole genome sequencing. Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), α-synuclein(αSyn), neurofilament light (NfL), and phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) were detected in a subgroup. As a result, the APOE ε4 allele significantly increased DLB risk (p = 1.84E-11), while rare missense variants of USP13 gene were first found to be suggestively associated with DLB risk (p = 1.31E-5). Higher levels of plasma GFAP, αSyn, NfL, and p-tau217 were detected in DLB patients compared to controls (p < 0.001), which combined with polygenic risk scores (PRS) achieving an AUC of 0.927 for DLB diagnosis. Besides, significant correlations were observed between PRS of DLB and age at onset, the cumulative incidence rate, as well as plasma GFAP levels. In conclusion, this is the first study to simultaneously investigate the genetics and plasma biomarkers of DLB, highlighting the discriminative ability for DLB using PRS and plasma biomarker assay.
Key findings
- As a result, the APOE ε4 allele significantly increased DLB risk (p = 1.84E-11), while rare missense variants of USP13 gene were first found to be suggestively associated with DLB risk (p = 1.31E-5).
- Higher levels of plasma GFAP, αSyn, NfL, and p-tau217 were detected in DLB patients compared to controls (p < 0.001), which combined with polygenic risk scores (PRS) achieving an AUC of 0.927 for DLB diagnosis.
- Besides, significant correlations were observed between PRS of DLB and age at onset, the cumulative incidence rate, as well as plasma GFAP levels.
- In conclusion, this is the first study to simultaneously investigate the genetics and plasma biomarkers of DLB, highlighting the discriminative ability for DLB using PRS and plasma biomarker assay.
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Study details
- Participants151
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 31 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 55 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NPJ Parkinson's disease) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 151 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40374660) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 31 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 55 out of 100. |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hao, X., Xiao, X., Weng, L., Lin, Z., Xu, Q., Du, J., et al. (2025). Genetic risk and plasma biomarkers of dementia with Lewy bodies in a Chinese population. NPJ Parkinson's disease. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-00988-z
Vancouver
Hao X, Xiao X, Weng L, Lin Z, Xu Q, Du J, et al. Genetic risk and plasma biomarkers of dementia with Lewy bodies in a Chinese population. NPJ Parkinson's disease. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41531-025-00988-z. PMID: 40374660.
BibTeX
@article{hao2025-40374660,
author = {Hao, Xiaoli and Xiao, Xuewen and Weng, Ling and Lin, Zhuojie and Xu, Qian and Du, Juan and Yang, Qijie and Zhu, Yuan and others},
title = {{Genetic risk and plasma biomarkers of dementia with Lewy bodies in a Chinese population}},
journal = {NPJ Parkinson's disease},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41531-025-00988-z},
pmid = {40374660},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-00988-z}
}
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