Diagnostic value of CSF chromogranin A to discriminate between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Background: Chromogranin A (CgA) seems to be involved in the pathophysiology of different neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). CgA is present in the aggregates of amyloid plaques and in Lewy bodies but CgA also has a function in neuroinflammatory processes via microglia. Our objective was to determine if there is a difference in the CgA concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD and DLB patients and whether the CgA concentration can discriminate between the two diseases.

Methods: Using the previously described AlphaLewyMA cohort, we included 117 patients with a CSF CgA assay: 15 control subjects (CS group), 64 DLB patients, 17 AD patients and 21 patients with both AD and probable DLB criteria (AD/DLB group). CgA concentration was assessed using the MSD platform.

Results: CSF CgA was increased in the AD and AD/DLB groups compared with the DLB group (p = 0.0006 between AD and DLB, p = 0.0013 between AD/DLB and DLB). No significant difference in CgA concentration was found between DLB and CS. ROC curve analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.791 between AD and DLB. CgA concentrations were correlated with t-Tau and P-Tau regardless of the pathology (for Tau: p = 0.022 for AD; p < 0.0001 for DLB; p = 0.004 for AD/DLB; for P-Tau: p = 0.032 for AD; p < 0.0001 for DLB; p = 0.0009 for AD/DLB). Aβ42 was positively correlated with CgA in the DLB group but not in the AD and AD/DLB groups (for DLB: p < 0.0001; for AD: p = 0.57; for AD/DLB: p = 0.58).

Conclusions: CSF CgA concentrations are increased in AD but not in DLB and correlate with P-Tau and Tau whatever the disease. These results suggest a link between tauopathy/neurodegeneration and CgA.