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Effect of Transcranial Photobiomodulation on Clinical Symptoms, Quality of Life, and Brain Connectivity Alterations in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Anne Botzung^1,2 (abotzung@unistra.fr), Eléna Chabran¹, Malvina Billères³, Marjorie Dole³, Antoine Robinet³, Olivier Bousiges¹, Paulo Loureiro De Sousa¹, John Mitrofanis³, Blanc Frédéric^1,2; ¹ICube Laboratory UMR 7357, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg, France, ²Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche (CM2R), Départements de neurologie et gériatrie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France, ³Université Grenoble Alpes, Fonds de Dotation Clinatec, Grenoble, France

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common progressive cognitive disorder after Alzheimer's disease (Aarsland et al. 2008). No treatments currently exist to slow its pathological processes or manage symptoms effectively. Photobiomodulation (PBM), which involves applying red to infrared light (λ=600-1000nm) to body tissues, has shown neuroprotective effects and improved cognitive and motor behavior in animal models of dementia (Adaikkan et al. 2019; Enengl et al. 2020; Tao et al. 2021). Preliminary studies in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients have also produced promising results (Saltmarche et al. 2017; Chao 2019; Nizamutdinov et al. 2021). This method has the advantages of being non-invasive, non-pharmacological, inexpensive, and easy to use, but has not been tested in DLB. We aim to assess whether PBM can act on the symptoms and experience of DLB by patients and their caregivers, help rebalance cerebral functional connectivity, and ensure a neuroprotective effect. Due to DLB’s unique pathophysiology, this study may have a greater impact than similar trials in Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. Our small-scale placebo-controlled clinical trial will include 30 prodromal DLB patients, split into active and placebo groups. PBM will be applied twice daily using the LUCIOLE Cap, an innovative device developed specifically for this study. Participants will undergo evaluations at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, assessing brain functional connectivity (rs-fMRI), cognitive and motor abilities, patient and caregiver wellbeing, and blood biomarkers (neurofilaments, phosphorylated tau 181, Aβ40/42 ratio). This study will be the first step in assessing PBM as a non-invasive treatment for DLB.

Topic Area: METHODS: Other