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Comparative Study
. 2025 Jun;29(6):100541.
doi: 10.1016/j.jnha.2025.100541. Epub 2025 Mar 23.

Intrinsic capacity in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies compared with those with Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional study

Marie Collin  1 , Justine Bonnet-Chateau  1 , Victor Gilles  1 , Sophie Dautricourt  2 , Thomas Gilbert  3 , Zaza Makaroff  1 , Marie-Hélène Coste  1 , Virginie Dauphinot  1 , Antoine Garnier-Crussard  4
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Intrinsic capacity in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies compared with those with Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional study

Marie Collin et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: Intrinsic capacity (IC), the composite of all the physical and mental capacities of an individual, has never been studied in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). As IC decline is associated with the risk of frailty, functional decline and disability and is potentially reversible after targeted interventions, a monitoring and specific management of IC decline in patients with DLB could promote healthy aging in this population. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe the frequency of IC decline in DLB and to compare it with AD.

Design: A single-center cross-sectional study.

Setting: This study was carried out in a memory clinic between 2015 and 2023 based on the MEMORA cohort.

Participants: Patients with a diagnosis of AD or probable DLB and a comprehensive geriatric assessment.

Measurements: IC was assessed according to the WHO model in 4 domains: vitality assessed by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), locomotion assessed by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), psychology assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale 4-items (GDS-4 items), and hearing assessed by the Hearing, Vision, Equilibrium and Cognition (HVEC) scale.

Results: A total of 798 patients (154 with probable DLB and 644 with AD) were included, and the mean age was 81.4 years (SD 6.33). Compared with AD patients, DLB patients had significantly more impaired IC in all domains, with greater risks of impaired vitality (odds ratio (OR) 2.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.60-3.72), locomotion (OR 3.50, 95% CI 2.15-5.90), psychology (OR 2.60, 95% CI 1.73-3.92) and hearing (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.53-3.49), according to the adjusted models. Similarly, when IC domains were considered linear variables, IC across all domains was significantly lower in the DLB group than in the AD group.

Conclusion: This study revealed that DLB patients presented a greater decrease in IC than did AD patients across all domains. In memory clinics, DLB patients could be offered systematic and early IC monitoring and personalized interventions.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Dementia with Lewy bodies; Intrinsic capacity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest Independent of this work, AGC is an unpaid subinvestigator or local principal investigator at NCT04867616 (UCB Pharma), NCT04241068 (Biogen), NCT05310071 (Biogen), NCT03446001 (TauRx Therapeutics), NCT03444870 (Roche), NCT04374253 (Roche), NCT04777396 (Novo Nordisk), NCT04777409 (Novo Nordisk), NCT04770220 (Alzheon), NCT05423522 (Medesis Pharma), and NCT06079190 (GlaxoSmithKline). Independent of this work, SD is an unpaid subinvestigator or local principal investigator at NCT04867616 (UCB Pharma), NCT04241068 (Biogen), NCT05310071 (Biogen), NCT03446001 (TauRx Therapeutics), NCT03444870 (Roche), NCT04374253 (Roche), NCT04777396 (Novo Nordisk), NCT04777409 (Novo Nordisk), NCT04770220 (Alzheon), NCT05423522 (Medesis Pharma), and NCT06079190 (GlaxoSmithKline). The other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Relationships between intrinsic capacity and diagnosis. The intrinsic capacity domains (vitality assessed by the MNA, locomotion assessed by the SPPB, psychology assessed by the GDS-4, and hearing assessed by the HVEC) are represented on the Y-axis. The results of multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, and cognition (MMSE) score are indicated. Abbreviations: MMSE = Mini Mental State Examination; SPPB = Short Physical Performance Battery (for the Locomotion domain of IC, score/12, higher score indicates better locomotor performance); MNA = Mini Nutritional Assessment (for the Vitality domain of IC, score/24, score indicates better nutrition); Hearing part of the HVEC = Hearing, Vision, Equilibrium and Cognition (for the Sensory domain of IC, score/60, higher score indicates lower hearing performance); GDS-4 items = Mini-Geriatric Depression Scale (for the Psychology domain of IC, score/4, higher score indicates risk of depression).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Correlation matrix including cognition, autonomy and intrinsic capacities in AD patients (left) and DLB patients (right). Matrix correlations with the Pearson coefficient and significance (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001). Abbreviations: MMSE = Mini Mental State Examination (for the Cognition domain of the IC, score/30, higher score indicates better cognitive performance); IADL = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (score/8, higher score indicates better instrumental autonomy); SPPB = Short Physical Performance Battery (for the Locomotion domain of the IC, score/12, higher score indicates better locomotor performance); MNA = Mini Nutritional Assessment (for the Vitality domain of the IC, score/24, score indicates better nutrition); Hearing part of the HVEC = Hearing, Vision, Equilibrium and Cognition (for the Sensory domain of the IC, score/60, higher score indicates lower hearing performance); IADL = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (score/8, higher score indicates better instrumental autonomy); miniGDS = GDS-4 items = Mini-Geriatric Depression Scale (for the Psychology domain of the IC, score/4, higher score indicates risk of depression).
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