Why is Alzheimer’s with Lewy Bodies Different from Classic Alzheimer’s?

A man performing Alzheimer's disease research

SYNTap Test Capabilities

This biomarker test can detect α-Synuclein with 87% sensitivity, 97% specificity, and 93.9% accuracy.

Specification Sheet

SYNTap Spec Sheet - Disease Lead

Underlying Synuclein pathology has been associated with a more rapid progression of disease and declines in cognitive function.

“Lewy-related pathology (LRP), primarily comprised of αSyn, is present in a majority of autopsied AD brains, and higher levels of αSyn in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD have been linked to cognitive decline.” (Ref.4)

The Cost of Not Knowing Alzheimer's Variants

There is a cost of not knowing when diagnosing a disease. Identifying the Dementia subtype can allow for more effective management and prognostic insights.

"Earlier identification of dementia and its subtypes, followed by pro- active care aimed at the prevention and management of expensive co-occurring conditions, has the potential to mitigate the high costs of dementia." (Ref.9)

Heterogeneity of Alzheimer's

Understanding the heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s is key to develop novel disease-modifying therapeutics and calls for additional biomarker testing. AD is no longer just A-T-N.

Therefore, identifying multiple pathologies in AD is important to treatment decisions and clinical trial recruitment.

"Our findings suggest that non-Alzheimer's disease pathological diagnoses play an important role in the clinical phenotype of early-onset Alzheimer's disease with potentially significant implications for clinical practice and clinical trials design." (Ref.5) 

SYNTap Test Capabilities

SYNTap Test has demonstrated through internal studies to detect > 94% of AD-LBV CSF samples confirmed at autopsy.

In a joint study with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Amprion conducted blinded analysis using CSF samples; during clinical test development, the SYNTap Test accurately predicted the presence of Lewy bodies confirmed at later autopsy. CSF samples were collected 1-15 years before autopsy from patients clinically diagnosed with AD (n=43), some other non-synucleinopathy neurodegenerative disease (n=12), and healthy control subjects (n=4).

Notably, the SYNTap Test detected the presence of misfolded a-Synuclein in CSF from a clinically diagnosed AD patient 10 years before the autopsy identified the presence of Lewy Bodies.

Similar results were observed in a confirmatory research study performed with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) using CSF collected prior to autopsy (n=64), as well as CSF collected postmortem (n=32). None of the CSF samples from 36 patients who had no brain Lewy bodies at autopsy tested positive. During our Clinical Validation, the SYNTap Test detected the presence of misfolded a-synuclein aggregates – the key component of Lewy Bodies, with a very high sensitivity of 87.3% and a specificity of 97.2%.

Download the SYNTap Test Specification Sheet for details.

ATTENTION!!

Amprion has some important news we need to share with you!

To improve patient access to the SYNTap® biomarker test (CSF), Amprion is reducing the self-pay price for tests with service dates on or after July 1, 2023.

Old self-pay price: $1500.00. New self-pay price: $995.00

Effective July 1, 2023, there is a New ABN (Advanced Beneficiary Notification) form for use when ordering the SYNTap® biomarker test (CSF) for patients on Medicare. Order Process

CPT/PLA – The SYNTap® test has been issued a dedicated PLA code to be used when billing: 0393U
 
We have applied to be a medicare provider and will soon be able to courtesy bill Medicare for your patients.