# Targeting Lewy Body Specific Pathology Using Biomarkers

> **NIH NIH U01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $907,896

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Lewy body disorders include Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PDD) and Dementia with Lewy
Bodies (DLB). DLB is particularly problematic since it is often not appreciated until late stages,
and often is admixed pathologically with concomitant Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Clinical care
and the design of symptomatic and disease modifying trials for DLB would benefit from earlier
diagnosis and reduced pathological heterogeneity. Thus, it is important to identify the extent to
which Lewy Body versus AD pathology contributes to the phenotype and underlying biology of
DLB, and to discover new molecular targets that specific to DLB. Clinically, we are uniquely
poised to recruit a multiethnic cohort of DLB patients derived from both the local /metropolitan
community, the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center [ADRC], and the broader practice
settings of the Aging and Dementia, Movement Disorders, and primary care programs at
Columbia University. We will capture the continuum of cognitive impairment and extrapyramidal
signs that exist in DLB. In Aim 1, we will identify and recruit an ethnically diverse (White,
Hispanic, African American) cohort of 40 DLB patients per year for years 1-4, who will be
followed semi-annually. We will administer the NINDS Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers
Program (PDBP) battery, the NIA National Alzheimer Coordinating Center (NACC) UDS3 with
the new DLB module. In Aim 2, we will perform RNA gene expression and epigenetic (DNA
methylation) profiling on dissected brain tissue from our Columbia University brain bank
including cases with pathologically defined Lewy Body Disease with AD pathology (DLB/AD)
and without significant AD (DLB), cases with AD, and controls to identify Lewy body specific
differences primarily by comparing DLB/AD and AD. In Aim 3, we will use expression data from
Aim 2, to develop biomarker assays in blood and CSF, including at RNA and protein levels. This
aim will first utilize plasma from cases who have autopsy proven diagnosis, and will then be
expanded to samples with clinical diagnoses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10003417
- **Project number:** 5U01NS100600-05
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** LAWRENCE S HONIG
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $907,896
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10003417

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10003417, Targeting Lewy Body Specific Pathology Using Biomarkers (5U01NS100600-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10003417. Licensed CC0.

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