Research grant to study Lewy body disease

University of Bristol, Press release issued 20 September 2011

Researchers at the University of Bristol’s Dementia Research Group have been awarded a grant to investigate the different forms of amyloid-β (Aβ) in Lewy body disease and its association with other diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The grant of over Ł80,000 has been awarded by local charity BRACE for the project “Contribution of Aβ to Lewy body disease”. BRACE funds research into Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Lewy body disease is a form of dementia that shares characteristics with both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

In Parkinson’s disease (PD) nerve cells form Lewy bodies, aggregates of the protein α-synuclein. Lewy body formation is initiated by the addition of phosphate to α-synuclein. Some variants of PD cause dementia and the brains of those patients usually accumulate Aβ, also found in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Seth Love, Professor of Neuropathology in the University’s School of Clinical Sciences, who will be leading the project, said: “This grant will help us to learn more about Lewy body disease and its association with other diseases and should help in the treatment of the disease.