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Objective: To assess the ability of potentially neuroprotective compounds to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD), sensitive rating scales are needed to detect clinically meaningful effects. The topographical progression of motor signs in early untreated PD was evaluated to complement current clinical ratings and enhance the sensitivity to detect disease progression.Methods: 12 patients referred for diagnostic evaluation of untreated de novo PD underwent detailed clinical assessment of motor parkinsonian signs at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of follow-up using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, motor part (UPDRS-III), and a newly developed approach of detailed segmental rating taking into account the localisation of motor signs in all of the major joints and muscle groups in the body. The progression of PD, as measured with the UPDRS-III, was compared with the segmental ratings.Results: UPDRS-III scores and segmental ratings for rigidity and rest and postural tremor, but not bradykinesia, progressed significantly during the observation period. Progression of normalised segmental ratings for rigidity and tremor was significantly larger than the UPDRS-III ratings over 1 year. The segmental ratings for rigidity and tremor as well as their combination with the UPDRS-III bradykinesia rating were more sensitive a measure for progression of PD than the UPDRS-III.Conclusions: Taking into account the segmental evolution of parkinsonian signs may be a useful adjunct to UPDRS-III evaluations to measure clinical disease progression of PD. If validated in subsequent larger cohorts, this may be useful in trials of neuroprotective agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB; including stridor and sleep apnea syndromes) is frequent in multiple system atrophy (MSA), but the immediate effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is incompletely determined., Objective: We sought to evaluate the acute effect and safety of CPAP therapy on SDB and sleep architecture, as well as the clinical characteristics of nonresponders to CPAP therapy., Methods: The measures of 63 consecutive patients with MSA who underwent a video-polysomnography during two consecutive nights (a first night in ambient air, a second night with or without CPAP, depending on the presence of SDB and availability of CPAP) in routine care were retrospectively collected. Linear mixed models assessed the two-night change in sleep and respiratory measures, comparing those with and without the CPAP therapy on the second night., Results: SDB was frequent and mainly associated with the cerebellar phenotype. The introduction of CPAP had immediate benefits, including the normalization of the apnea-hypopnea index and a resolution of stridor in more than two-thirds of the cases, decreased arousal index, and increased rapid eye movement sleep. CPAP therapy was well tolerated, and only two patients had emergent central apneas. Nonresponse to CPAP was generally associated with more severe motor disease., Conclusions: CPAP seems a well-tolerated and effective therapy in patients with MSA and SDB in the short term. This treatment shows remarkable immediate benefits by objectively improving both respiratory disturbances and sleep architecture. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background and Purpose: Myoclonus dystonia due to a pathogenic variant in SGCE (MYC/DYT-SGCE) is a rare condition involving a motor phenotype associating myoclonus and dystonia. Dysfunction within the networks relying on the cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia was presumed to underpin the clinical manifestations. However, the microarchitectural abnormalities within these structures and related pathways are unknown. Here, we investigated the microarchitectural brain abnormalities related to the motor phenotype in MYC/DYT-SGCE., Methods: We used neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging, a multicompartment tissue model of diffusion neuroimaging, to compare microarchitectural neurite organization in MYC/DYT-SGCE patients and healthy volunteers (HVs). Neurite density index (NDI), orientation dispersion index (ODI), and isotropic volume fraction (ISOVF) were derived and correlated with the severity of motor symptoms. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) derived from the diffusion tensor approach were also analyzed. In addition, we studied the pathways that correlated with motor symptom severity using tractography analysis., Results: Eighteen MYC/DYT-SGCE patients and 24 HVs were analyzed. MYC/DYT-SGCE patients showed an increase of ODI and a decrease of FA within their motor cerebellum. More severe dystonia was associated with lower ODI and NDI and higher FA within motor cerebellar cortex, as well as with lower NDI and higher ISOVF and MD within the corticopontocerebellar and spinocerebellar pathways. No association was found between myoclonus severity and diffusion parameters., Conclusions: In MYC/DYT-SGCE, we found microstructural reorganization of the motor cerebellum. Structural change in the cerebellar afferent pathways that relay inputs from the spinal cord and the cerebral cortex were specifically associated with the severity of dystonia., (© 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.)

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms, among which impulse control disorders behaviors (ICD) emerge as significant non-motor manifestations. ICD in PD patients, including pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive buying, among others, lead to considerable impairment and reduced quality of life. This review aims to explore the multifaceted risk factors associated with ICD in PD patients, including clinical, pharmacological, and genetic aspects, to enhance early identification, prevention, and management strategies., Methods: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to identify studies investigating risk factors for ICD in PD. Data from clinical, pharmacological, and genetic studies were analyzed to elucidate the complex interplay of factors contributing to ICD development., Results: Clinical risk factors such as young age, male gender, and specific personality traits were consistently associated with a higher incidence of ICD. Environmental factors such as cultural nuances and geographic location influence ICD prevalence. Disease characteristics include early PD onset, longer disease duration, motor fluctuations, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and apathy. Pharmaceutical risk factors involve dopaminergic drugs, with dopamine agonists showing a dose-dependent association with ICD. Genetic risk factors highlight the involvement of dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems, with various neurotransmitter pathways implicated., Conclusions: ICDs are common and severe in PD. Understanding the multifaceted risk factors for ICD in PD is crucial for identifying patients at high risk to develop these adverse effects and developing targeted interventions to prevent their occurrence. Given their frequency and potential consequences for the patient and their family, the current strategy is to systematically screen for ICDs throughout patient follow-up, particularly when prescribing dopamine agonists., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Prolonged levodopa treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) often leads to motor complications, including levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). Despite continuous levodopa treatment, some patients do not develop LID symptoms, even in later stages of the disease., Objective: This study explores machine learning (ML) methods using baseline clinical characteristics to predict the development of LID in PD patients over four years, across multiple cohorts., Methods: Using interpretable ML approaches, we analyzed clinical data from three independent longitudinal PD cohorts (LuxPARK, n = 356; PPMI, n = 484; ICEBERG, n = 113) to develop cross-cohort prognostic models and identify potential predictors for the development of LID. We examined cohort-specific and shared predictive factors, assessing model performance and stability through cross-validation analyses., Results: Consistent cross-validation results for single and multiple cohort analyses highlighted the effectiveness of the ML models and identified baseline clinical characteristics with significant predictive value for the LID prognosis in PD. Predictors positively correlated with LID include axial symptoms, freezing of gait, and rigidity in the lower extremities. Conversely, the risk of developing LID was inversely associated with the occurrence of resting tremors, higher body weight, later onset of PD, and visuospatial abilities., Conclusions: This study presents interpretable ML models for dyskinesia prognosis with significant predictive power in cross-cohort analyses. The models may pave the way for proactive interventions against dyskinesia in PD by optimizing levodopa dosing regimens and adjunct treatments with dopamine agonists or MAO-B inhibitors, and by employing non-pharmacological interventions such as dietary adjustments affecting levodopa absorption for high-risk LID patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Our study investigates the impact of copy number variations (CNVs) on Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis using genome-wide data, aiming to uncover novel genetic mechanisms and improve the understanding of the role of CNVs in sporadic PD., Methods: We applied a sliding window approach to perform CNV-GWAS and conducted genome-wide burden analyses on CNV data from 11,035 PD patients (including 2,731 early-onset PD (EOPD)) and 8,901 controls from the COURAGE-PD consortium., Results: We identified 14 genome-wide significant CNV loci associated with PD, including one deletion and 13 duplications. Among these, duplications in 7q22.1, 11q12.3 and 7q33 displayed the highest effect. Two significant duplications overlapped with PD-related genes SNCA and VPS13C , but none overlapped with recent significant SNP-based GWAS findings. Five duplications included genes associated with neurological disease, and four overlapping genes were dosage-sensitive and intolerant to loss-of-function variants. Enriched pathways included neurodegeneration, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and lipid metabolism. In early-onset cases, four loci were significantly associated with EOPD, including three known duplications and one novel deletion in PRKN . CNV burden analysis showed a higher prevalence of CNVs in PD-related genes in patients compared to controls (OR=1.56 [1.18-2.09], p=0.0013), with PRKN showing the highest burden (OR=1.47 [1.10-1.98], p=0.026). Patients with CNVs in PRKN had an earlier disease onset. Burden analysis with controls and EOPD patients showed similar results., Interpretation: This is the largest CNV-based GWAS in PD identifying novel CNV regions and confirming the significant CNV burden in EOPD, primarily driven by the PRKN gene, warranting further investigation.

Background and Objectives: The role of body mass index (BMI) in Parkinson disease (PD) is unclear. Based on the Comprehensive Unbiased Risk Factor Assessment for Genetics and Environment in PD (Courage-PD) consortium, we used 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to replicate a previously reported inverse association of genetically predicted BMI with PD and investigated whether findings were robust in analyses addressing the potential for survival and incidence-prevalence biases. We also examined whether the BMI-PD relation is bidirectional by performing a reverse MR., Methods: We used summary statistics from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to extract the association of 501 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with BMI and from the Courage-PD and international Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium (iPDGC) to estimate their association with PD. Analyses are based on participants of European ancestry. We used the inverse-weighted method to compute odds ratios (OR IVW per 4.8 kg/m 2 [95% CI]) of PD and additional pleiotropy robust methods. We performed analyses stratified by age, disease duration, and sex. For reverse MR, we used SNPs associated with PD from 2 iPDGC GWAS to assess the effect of genetic liability toward PD on BMI., Results: Summary statistics for BMI are based on 806,834 participants (54% women). Summary statistics for PD are based on 8,919 (40% women) cases and 7,600 (55% women) controls from Courage-PD, and 19,438 (38% women) cases and 24,388 (51% women) controls from iPDGC. In Courage-PD, we found an inverse association between genetically predicted BMI and PD (OR IVW 0.82 [0.70-0.97], p = 0.012) without evidence for pleiotropy. This association tended to be stronger in younger participants (≤67 years, OR IVW 0.71 [0.55-0.92]) and cases with shorter disease duration (≤7 years, OR IVW 0.75 [0.62-0.91]). In pooled Courage-PD + iPDGC analyses, the association was stronger in women (OR IVW 0.85 [0.74-0.99], p = 0.032) than men (OR IVW 0.92 [0.80-1.04], p = 0.18), but the interaction was not statistically significant ( p -interaction = 0.48). In reverse MR, there was evidence for pleiotropy, but pleiotropy robust methods showed a significant inverse association., Discussion: Using an independent data set (Courage-PD), we replicate an inverse association of genetically predicted BMI with PD, not explained by survival or incidence-prevalence biases. Moreover, reverse MR analyses support an inverse association between genetic liability toward PD and BMI, in favor of a bidirectional relation.

Background: Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is a common adverse effect of levodopa, one of the main therapeutics used to treat the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous evidence suggests a connection between LID and a disruption of the dopaminergic system as well as genes implicated in PD, including GBA1 and LRRK2., Objectives: Our goal was to investigate the effects of genetic variants on risk and time to LID., Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and analyses focused on GBA1 and LRRK2 variants. We also calculated polygenic risk scores (PRS) including risk variants for PD and variants in genes involved in the dopaminergic transmission pathway. To test the influence of genetics on LID risk we used logistic regression, and to examine its impact on time to LID we performed Cox regression including 1612 PD patients with and 3175 without LID., Results: We found that GBA1 variants were associated with LID risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21-2.26; P = 0.0017) and LRRK2 variants with reduced time to LID onset (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.09-1.84; P = 0.0098). The fourth quartile of the PD PRS was associated with increased LID risk (OR fourth_quartile  = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.03-1.56; P = 0.0210). The third and fourth dopamine pathway PRS quartiles were associated with a reduced time to development of LID (HR third_quartile = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.07-1.79; P = 0.0128; HR fourth_quartile = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.06-1.78; P = 0.0147)., Conclusions: This study suggests that variants implicated in PD and in the dopaminergic transmission pathway play a role in the risk/time to develop LID. Further studies will be necessary to examine how these findings can inform clinical care. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background: Recent literature suggests that taking into consideration and evaluating preoperative expectations of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients candidates to deep brain stimulation (DBS), can contribute to treatment effectiveness. However, few validated instruments investigating preoperative expectations are available. We present the development and validation of the DBS-PS (Deep Brain Stimulation - Perception Scale)., Methods: The DBS-PS is an 11 questions self-administered scale, with answers rated on a 10-point Likert scale (1 completely false, 10 completely true). Items were generated on the basis of patient's interviews analyzed by an expert group and reached consensus. The scale is divided into three domains: expectations for PD, expectations for social-life and leisure, expectations for intimate life. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) completed by item response theory (IRT) analysis was conducted to validate the theoretical structure of the DBS-PS., Results: 64 PD patients aged 59.18 (SD = 5.74) years with PD diagnosed since 9.36 (SD = 4.09) years completed the DBS-PS preoperatively. EFA confirmed a 3 factors scale structure (eigenvalue >1) explaining 69% of variance (factor 1: 43%; factor 2: 17%; factor 3: 9%). Reliability (Cronbach's α: 0.714 for factor 1, 0.781 for factor 2, 0.889 for factor 3) and discriminant validity (Pearson coefficient r < 0.50) were satisfactory. IRT showed good model fit, preserved unidimensionality, but some local dependences were observed., Conclusion: The DBS-PS shows satisfactory psychometric properties. It is easy to administer in routine practice with preoperative PD patients. It constitutes an interesting basis for cognitive restructuring before neurosurgery, by highlighting dysfunctional cognitions and measuring the benefits of cognitive restructuring therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest J.C·C. has served in advisory boards for Alzprotect, Bayer, Biogen, Denali, Ferrer, Idorsia, Prevail Therapeutic, Servier, Theranexus, UCB; and received grants from Sanofi and the Michael J Fox Foundation outside of this work. D.D. Consultancies: Scientific Advisory Board for Abbvie, Alterity, Orkyn, Air Liquide, Apopharma, Lundbeck, Everpharma and Boston Scientific, Cure Parkinson Trust. Grants: French Ministry of Health: PHRC grants. French Ministry of Research: ANR. European Preclinical Research: Coen. European Clinical Research: Horizon 2020. Charities: France Parkinson, ARSLA Foundation. Foundations: University of Lille, CA. Equity stake: InBrain Pharma, InVenis Biotherapie. I.B. has served in advisory boards for Abbvie and Orkyn. S.C.C, A.S.R, M.M, H·D, R.S, E.S have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess amantadine use and associated factors in the patients with Parkinson's disease (PD)., Background: Immediate-release amantadine is approved for the treatment of PD and is largely used in clinical practice to treat "levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LIDs). Its use varies according to countries and PD stages. The prospective NS-Park cohort collects features of PD patients followed by 26 French PD Expert Centres., Methods: Variables used for the analyses included demographics, motor and non-motor PD symptoms and motor complications [motor fluctuations (MFs), LIDs)], antiparkinsonian pharmacological classes and levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD). We evaluated: (i) prevalence of amantadine use and compared clinical features of amantadine users vs. non-users (cross-sectional analysis); (ii) factors associated with amantadine initiation (longitudinal analysis); (iii) amantadine effect on LIDs, MFs, apathy, impulse control disorders and freezing of gait (Fog) (longitudinal analysis)., Results: Amantadine use prevalence was 12.6% (1,585/12,542, median dose = 200 mg). Amantadine users were significantly younger, with longer and more severe PD symptoms, greater LEDD and more frequent use of device-aided/surgical treatment. Factors independently associated with amantadine initiation were younger age, longer PD duration, more frequent LIDs, MFs and FoG, higher LEDD and better cognitive function. 9 of the 658 patients on amantadine had stopped it at the following visit, after 12-18 months (1.3%). New users of amantadine presented a higher improvement in LIDs and MF compared to amantadine never users., Conclusions: About 12% of PD patients within the French NS-Park cohort used amantadine, mostly those with younger age and more severe PD. Amantadine initiation was associated with a subsequent reduction in LIDs and MFs., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: In early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD), rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) predicts poor cognitive and motor outcome. However, the baseline significance and disease evolution associated with isolated REM sleep without atonia (iRWA, ie, enhanced muscle tone during 8.7% of REM sleep, but no violent behavior) are not well understood., Objectives: The objective is to determine whether iRWA was a mild form of RBD and progressed similarly over time., Methods: Participants with early PD (<4 years from medical diagnosis) were included from 2014 to 2021 in a longitudinal study. They underwent interviews and examinations in the motor, cognitive, autonomous, psychiatric, sensory, and sleep domains every year for 4 years along with a video polysomnography and magnetic resonance imaging examination of the locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus complex (LC/LsC) at baseline. The clinical characteristics were compared between groups with normal REM sleep, with iRWA and with RBD, at baseline and for 4 years., Results: Among 159 PD participants, 25% had RBD, 25% had iRWA, and 50% had normal REM sleep. At baseline, the non-motor symptoms were less prevalent and the LC/LsC signal intensity was more intense in participants with iRWA than with RBD. Over 4 years, participants with normal REM sleep and with iRWA had a similar cognitive and motor trajectory, whereas participants with RBD had greater cognitive and motor decline., Conclusions: We demonstrated that iRWA is frequent in early PD, but is not a milder form of RBD. Both groups have distinct baseline characteristics and clinical trajectories. They should be distinguished in clinical routine and research protocols. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Traditional drug development in Parkinson's disease (PD) faces significant challenges because of its protracted timeline and high costs. In response, innovative master protocols are emerging and designed to address multiple research questions within a single overarching protocol. These trials may offer advantages such as increased efficiency, agility in adding new treatment arms, and potential cost savings. However, they also present organizational, methodological, funding, regulatory, and sponsorship challenges. We review the potential of master protocols, focusing on platform trials, for disease modifying therapies in PD. These trials share a common control group and allow for the termination or addition of treatment arms during a trial with non-predetermined end. Specific issues exist for a platform trial in the PD field considering the heterogeneity of patients in terms of phenotype, genotype and staging, the confounding effects of symptomatic treatments, and the choice of outcome measures with no consensus on a non-clinical biomarker to serve as a surrogate and the slowness of PD progression. We illustrate these aspects using the examples of the main PD platform trials currently in development with each one targeting distinct goals, populations, and outcomes. Overall, platform trials hold promise in expediting the evaluation of potential therapies for PD. However, it remains to be proven whether these theoretical benefits will translate into increased production of high-quality trial data. Success also depends on the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to engage in such trials and whether this approach will ultimately hasten the identification and licensing of effective disease-modifying drugs. © 2024 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background: NMF are currently poorly evaluated in therapeutic decisions. A quantification of their severity would facilitate their integration. The objective of this study was to validate an autoquestionnaire evaluating the severity of non-motor fluctuations (NMF) in Parkinson's disease (PD)., Methods: Patients with PD were included in presurgical situation for deep brain stimulation of subthalamic nuclei. They participated in the PREDISTIM cohort (a study evaluating the predictive factors for therapeutic response of subthalamic stimulation in PD) in 17 centres in France. Our questionnaire, resulting from previous phases of development, included 11 non-motor symptoms (NMS). Their severity ranged from 0 to 10 and was assessed in OFF and then ON-Dopa to study their fluctuations., Results: 310 patients were included, of whom 98.8% had NMS and 98.0% had NMF. Each NMS was significantly improved by L-Dopa (decrease in severity score ranging from 43.1% to 69.9%). Fatigue was the most frequent and most severe NMS. NMS were considered more bothersome than motor symptoms by 37.5% of patients in OFF-Dopa and 34.9% in ON-Dopa., Conclusions: This is the first questionnaire allowing a real-time quantification of the severity of NMS and their fluctuation with levodopa. It was able to confirm and measure the effect of L-dopa and show differences according to the patients and the NMS. It differs from other questionnaires by its measurement at a precise moment of the severity of the NMS, allowing its use during pretherapeutic assessments.Our questionnaire has been validated to measure the severity of NMF. It will be able to quantify the non-motor effect of anti-parkinsonian treatments and could facilitate the integration of NMF in therapeutic decisions., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Among the different types of pain related to Parkinson's disease (PD), parkinsonian central pain (PCP) is the most disabling., Objectives: We investigated the analgesic efficacy of two therapeutic strategies (opioid with oxycodone- prolonged-release (PR) and higher dose of levodopa/benserazide) compared with placebo in patients with PCP., Methods: OXYDOPA was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, multicenter parallel-group trial run at 15 centers within the French NS-Park network. PD patients with PCP (≥30 on the Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]) were randomly assigned to receive oxycodone-PR (up to 40 mg/day), levodopa/benserazide (up to 200 mg/day) or matching placebo three times a day (tid) for 8 weeks at a stable dose, in add-on to their current dopaminergic therapy. The primary endpoint was the change in average pain intensity over the previous week rated on VAS from baseline to week-10 based on modified intention-to-treat analyses., Results: Between May 2016 and August 2020, 66 patients were randomized to oxycodone-PR (n = 23), levodopa/benserazide (n = 20) or placebo (n = 23). The mean change in pain intensity was -17 ± 18.5 on oxycodone-PR, -8.3 ± 11.1 on levodopa/benserazide, and -14.3 ± 18.9 in the placebo groups. The absolute difference versus placebo was -1.54 (97.5% confidence interval [CI], -17.0 to 13.90; P = 0.8) on oxycodone-PR and +7.79 (97.5% CI, -4.99 to 20.58; P = 0.2) on levodopa/benserazide. Similar proportions of patients in each group experienced all-cause adverse events. Those leading to study discontinuation were most frequently observed with oxycodone-PR (39%) than levodopa/benserazide (5%) or placebo (15%)., Conclusions: The present trial failed to demonstrate the superiority of oxycodone-PR or a higher dose of levodopa in patients with PCP, while oxycodone-PR was poorly tolerated. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

There are 90 independent genome-wide significant genetic risk variants for Parkinson's disease (PD) but currently only five nominated loci for PD progression. The biology of PD progression is likely to be of central importance in defining mechanisms that can be used to develop new treatments. We studied 6766 PD patients, over 15,340 visits with a mean follow-up of between 4.2 and 15.7 years and carried out genome-wide survival studies for time to a motor progression endpoint, defined by reaching Hoehn and Yahr stage 3 or greater, and death (mortality). There was a robust effect of the APOE ε4 allele on mortality in PD. We also identified a locus within the TBXAS1 gene encoding thromboxane A synthase 1 associated with mortality in PD. We also report 4 independent loci associated with motor progression in or near MORN1, ASNS, PDE5A, and XPO1. Only the non-Gaucher disease causing GBA1 PD risk variant E326K, of the known PD risk variants, was associated with mortality in PD. Further work is needed to understand the links between these genomic variants and the underlying disease biology. However, these may represent new candidates for disease modification in PD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Although sex, genetics, and exposures can individually influence risk for sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), the joint contributions of these factors to the epigenetic etiology of PD have not been comprehensively assessed. Here, we profiled sex-stratified genome-wide blood DNAm patterns, SNP genotype, and pesticide exposure in agricultural workers (71 early-stage PD cases, 147 controls) and explored replication in three independent samples of varying demographics (n = 218, 222, and 872). Using a region-based approach, we found more associations of blood DNAm with PD in females (69 regions) than in males (2 regions, Δβ adj | ≥0.03, p adj  ≤ 0.05). For 48 regions in females, models including genotype or genotype and pesticide exposure substantially improved in explaining interindividual variation in DNAm (p adj  ≤ 0.05), and accounting for these variables decreased the estimated effect of PD on DNAm. The results suggested that genotype, and to a lesser degree, genotype-exposure interactions contributed to variation in PD-associated DNAm. Our findings should be further explored in larger study populations and in experimental systems, preferably with precise measures of exposure., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) is heterogeneous across patients, affecting counseling and inflating the number of patients needed to test potential neuroprotective treatments. Moreover, disease subtypes might require different therapies. This work uses a data-driven approach to investigate how observed heterogeneity in PD can be explained by the existence of distinct PD progression subtypes. To derive stable PD progression subtypes in an unbiased manner, we analyzed multimodal longitudinal data from three large PD cohorts and performed extensive cross-cohort validation. A latent time joint mixed-effects model (LTJMM) was used to align patients on a common disease timescale. Progression subtypes were identified by variational deep embedding with recurrence (VaDER). In each cohort, we identified a fast-progressing and a slow-progressing subtype, reflected by different patterns of motor and non-motor symptoms progression, survival rates, treatment response, features extracted from DaTSCAN imaging and digital gait assessments, education, and Alzheimer's disease pathology. Progression subtypes could be predicted with ROC-AUC up to 0.79 for individual patients when a one-year observation period was used for model training. Simulations demonstrated that enriching clinical trials with fast-progressing patients based on these predictions can reduce the required cohort size by 43%. Our results show that heterogeneity in PD can be explained by two distinct subtypes of PD progression that are stable across cohorts. These subtypes align with the brain-first vs. body-first concept, which potentially provides a biological explanation for subtype differences. Our predictive models will enable clinical trials with significantly lower sample sizes by enriching fast-progressing patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background and Objectives: The impact of subthalamic deep-brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on motor asymmetry and its influence on both motor and non-motor outcomes remain unclear. The present study aims at assessing the role of STN-DBS on motor asymmetry and how its modulation translates into benefits in motor function, activities of daily living (ADLs) and quality of life (QoL)., Methods: Postoperative motor asymmetry has been assessed on the multicentric, prospective Predictive Factors and Subthalamic Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease cohort. Asymmetry was evaluated at both baseline (pre-DBS) and 1 year after STN-DBS. A patient was considered asymmetric when the right-to-left MDS-UPDRS part III difference was ≥ 5. In parallel, analyses have been carried out using the absolute right-to-left difference. The proportion of asymmetric patients at baseline was compared to that in the post-surgery evaluation across different medication/stimulation conditions., Results: 537 PD patients have been included. The proportion of asymmetric patients was significantly reduced after both STN-DBS and medication administration (asymmetric patients: 50% in pre-DBS MedOFF, 35% in MedOFF/StimON, 26% in MedON/StimOFF, and 12% in MedON/StimON state). Older patients at surgery and with higher baseline UPDRS II scores were significantly less likely to benefit from STN-DBS at the level of motor asymmetry. No significant correlation between motor asymmetry and ADLs (UPDRS II) or overall QoL (PDQ-39) score was observed. Asymmetric patients had significantly higher mobility, communication, and daily living PDQ-39 sub-scores., Conclusions: Both STN-DBS and levodopa lead to a reduction in motor asymmetry. Motor symmetry is associated with improvements in certain QoL sub-scores., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Background: International clinical criteria are the reference for the diagnosis of degenerative parkinsonism in clinical research, but they may lack sensitivity and specificity in the early stages., Objectives: To determine whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis, through visual reading or machine-learning approaches, improves diagnostic accuracy compared with clinical diagnosis at an early stage in patients referred for suspected degenerative parkinsonism., Materials: Patients with initial diagnostic uncertainty between Parkinson's disease (PD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and multisystem atrophy (MSA), with brain MRI performed at the initial visit (V1) and available 2-year follow-up (V2), were included. We evaluated the accuracy of the diagnosis established based on: (1) the international clinical diagnostic criteria for PD, PSP, and MSA at V1 ("Clin1"); (2) MRI visual reading blinded to the clinical diagnosis ("MRI"); (3) both MRI visual reading and clinical criteria at V1 ("MRI and Clin1"), and (4) a machine-learning algorithm ("Algorithm"). The gold standard diagnosis was established by expert consensus after a 2-year follow-up., Results: We recruited 113 patients (53 with PD, 31 with PSP, and 29 with MSA). Considering the whole population, compared with clinical criteria at the initial visit ("Clin1": balanced accuracy, 66.2%), MRI visual reading showed a diagnostic gain of 14.3% ("MRI": 80.5%; P = 0.01), increasing to 19.2% when combined with the clinical diagnosis at the initial visit ("MRI and Clin1": 85.4%; P < 0.0001). The algorithm achieved a diagnostic gain of 9.9% ("Algorithm": 76.1%; P = 0.08)., Conclusion: Our study shows the use of MRI analysis, whether by visual reading or machine-learning methods, for early differentiation of parkinsonism. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background: The long-term prognosis of impulsive compulsive disorders (ICD) remains poorly studied in Parkinson's disease (PD)., Objective: Evaluating the natural history of ICD and its impact on PD symptoms including cognition and treatment adjustments., Materials and Methods: We assessed PD patients at baseline (BL) with (BL-ICD+) or without (BL-ICD-) ICD despite dopamine agonist (DA) exposure of > 300 mg levodopa-equivalent daily dose for > 12 months at baseline and after more than two years of follow-up. ICD were assessed using the Ardouin's Scale of Behaviors in PD (ASBPD), cognition using the Mattis scale, and PD symptoms using the UPDRS score. Treatment adjustments, DA withdrawal-associated symptoms, and ICDs social consequences were recorded., Results: 149 patients were included (78 cases and 71 controls), mean duration of follow-up was 4.4 ± 1 years. At baseline, psychiatric disorders were more common among BL-ICD + (42.3 vs 12.3% among BL-ICD-, p < 0.01). At follow-up, 53.8% of BL-ICD + were not ICD-free while 21.1% of BL-ICD- had developed ICD. BL-ICD + more frequently experienced akinesia (21.8 vs 8.5%, p = 0.043) and rigidity worsening (11.5 vs 1.4%, p = 0.019) following therapeutic modifications. Decision to decrease > 50% DA doses (12.8 vs 1.4%, p = 0.019) or to withdraw DA (19.2 vs 5.6%, p = 0.025) was more frequently considered among BL-ICD+ . At follow-up, the prevalence of cognitive decline was lower among BL-ICD + (19.2 vs 37.1%, p = 0.025)., Conclusion: ICDs were associated with increased psychiatric burden at baseline and better cognitive prognosis. Most patients were still showing ICDs at the follow-up visit, suggesting ICD to be considered as a chronic, neuropsychiatric disorder., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Background: Lixisenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist used for the treatment of diabetes, has shown neuroprotective properties in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease., Methods: In this phase 2, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we assessed the effect of lixisenatide on the progression of motor disability in persons with Parkinson's disease. Participants in whom Parkinson's disease was diagnosed less than 3 years earlier, who were receiving a stable dose of medications to treat symptoms, and who did not have motor complications were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to daily subcutaneous lixisenatide or placebo for 12 months, followed by a 2-month washout period. The primary end point was the change from baseline in scores on the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III (range, 0 to 132, with higher scores indicating greater motor disability), which was assessed in patients in the on-medication state at 12 months. Secondary end points included other MDS-UPDRS subscores at 6, 12, and 14 months and doses of levodopa equivalent., Results: A total of 156 persons were enrolled, with 78 assigned to each group. MDS-UPDRS part III scores at baseline were approximately 15 in both groups. At 12 months, scores on the MDS-UPDRS part III had changed by -0.04 points (indicating improvement) in the lixisenatide group and 3.04 points (indicating worsening disability) in the placebo group (difference, 3.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.86 to 5.30; P = 0.007). At 14 months, after a 2-month washout period, the mean MDS-UPDRS motor scores in the off-medication state were 17.7 (95% CI, 15.7 to 19.7) with lixisenatide and 20.6 (95% CI, 18.5 to 22.8) with placebo. Other results relative to the secondary end points did not differ substantially between the groups. Nausea occurred in 46% of participants receiving lixisenatide, and vomiting occurred in 13%., Conclusions: In participants with early Parkinson's disease, lixisenatide therapy resulted in less progression of motor disability than placebo at 12 months in a phase 2 trial but was associated with gastrointestinal side effects. Longer and larger trials are needed to determine the effects and safety of lixisenatide in persons with Parkinson's disease. (Funded by the French Ministry of Health and others; LIXIPARK ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03439943.)., (Copyright © 2024 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

Bi-allelic pathogenic variants in PRKN are the most common cause of autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD). 647 patients with PRKN-PD were included in this international study. The pathogenic variants present were characterised and investigated for their effect on phenotype. Clinical features and progression of PRKN-PD was also assessed. Among 133 variants in index cases (n = 582), there were 58 (43.6%) structural variants, 34 (25.6%) missense, 20 (15%) frameshift, 10 splice site (7.5%%), 9 (6.8%) nonsense and 2 (1.5%) indels. The most frequent variant overall was an exon 3 deletion (n = 145, 12.3%), followed by the p.R275W substitution (n = 117, 10%). Exon3, RING0 protein domain and the ubiquitin-like protein domain were mutational hotspots with 31%, 35.4% and 31.7% of index cases presenting mutations in these regions respectively. The presence of a frameshift or structural variant was associated with a 3.4 ± 1.6 years or a 4.7 ± 1.6 years earlier age at onset of PRKN-PD respectively (p < 0.05). Furthermore, variants located in the N-terminus of the protein, a region enriched with frameshift variants, were associated with an earlier age at onset. The phenotype of PRKN-PD was characterised by slow motor progression, preserved cognition, an excellent motor response to levodopa therapy and later development of motor complications compared to early-onset PD. Non-motor symptoms were however common in PRKN-PD. Our findings on the relationship between the type of variant in PRKN and the phenotype of the disease may have implications for both genetic counselling and the design of precision clinical trials., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Non-motor aspects in dystonia are now well recognized. The sense of agency, which refers to the experience of controlling one's own actions, has been scarcely studied in dystonia, even though its disturbances can contribute to movement disorders. Among various brain structures, the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the basal ganglia are involved in shaping the sense of agency. In myoclonus dystonia, resulting from a dysfunction of the motor network, an altered sense of agency may contribute to the clinical phenotype of the condition. In this study, we compared the explicit and implicit sense of agency in patients with myoclonus dystonia caused by a pathogenic variant of SGCE (DYT- SGCE ) and control participants. We utilized behavioural tasks to assess the sense of agency and performed neuroimaging analyses, including structural, resting-state functional connectivity, and dynamic causal modelling, to explore the relevant brain regions involved in the sense of agency. Additionally, we examined the relationship between behavioural performance, symptom severity, and neuroimaging findings. We compared 19 patients with DYT- SGCE and 24 healthy volunteers. Our findings revealed that patients with myoclonus-dystonia exhibited a specific impairment in explicit sense of agency, particularly when implicit motor learning was involved. However, their implicit sense of agency remained intact. These patients also displayed grey-matter abnormalities in the motor cerebellum, as well as increased functional connectivity between the cerebellum and pre-supplementary motor area. Dynamic causal modelling analysis further identified reduced inhibitory effects of the cerebellum on the pre-supplementary motor area, decreased excitatory effects of the pre-supplementary motor area on the cerebellum, and increased self-inhibition within the pre-supplementary motor area. Importantly, both cerebellar grey-matter alterations and functional connectivity abnormalities between the cerebellum and pre-supplementary motor area were found to correlate with explicit sense of agency impairment. Increased self-inhibition within the pre-supplementary motor area was associated with less severe myoclonus symptoms. These findings highlight the disruption of higher-level cognitive processes in patients with myoclonus-dystonia, further expanding the spectrum of neurological and psychiatric dysfunction already identified in this disorder., Competing Interests: C.G., C.T., B.B., B.D., I.J.B., V.B., C.A.-C., L.D., P.K., J.-L.H., E.A., A.D., J.-M.P., M.V. and Y.W. have no disclosures relevant to this work. C.T. received a PhD grant from the ‘Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale’. C.D. has received a research grant from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and travel funding from Merz Pharma, Abbvie, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. J.C.C. has served on advisory boards for Biogen, Denali, Idorsia, Prevail Therapeutic, Servier, Theranexus and UCB, and has received grants from Sanofi and the Michael J Fox Foundation for other projects. S.T. received grants from France Parkinson, PHRC and honorarium from Abbvie, Boston, Merz. E.M. has received speaking honoraria from AbbVie, Dutch MDS symposium, travel support from Elivie, served on an advisory board for AbbVie and received research grants from the STAR MD and the RCSI Richard Steeven’s Scholarship. D.G. has received grants from AP-HP (DRC-PHRC) and France Parkinson, served on scientific advisory boards for AbbVie and Zambon; received research funding from Air Liquide and Orkyn; received speech honoraria from Medtronic, Abbvie, Merz, Orkyn, Aguettant and EverPharma, and received travel funding from Abbvie and Merz. E.R. received honorarium for speech from Orkyn, Aguettant, Elivie and for participating in an advisory board from Merz-Pharma. He received research support from Merz-Pharma, Orkyn, Aguettant, Elivie, Ipsen, Everpharma, Fondation Desmarest, AMADYS, ADCY5.org, Fonds de dotation Patrick Brou de Laurière, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Societé Française de Médecine Esthétique, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.)

Background: Acting on the main target of dopaminergic cells, the striatal γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic cells, might be a new way to treat persons with Parkinson's disease (PD)., Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of bumetanide, an Na-K-Cl cotransporter (NKCC1) inhibitor, to improve motor symptoms in PD., Methods: This was a 4-month double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of 1.75 to 3 mg/day bumetanide as an adjunct to levodopa in 44 participants with PD and motor fluctuations., Results: Compared to the baseline, the mean change in OFF Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III score after 4 months of treatment (primary endpoint) did not improve significantly compared with placebo. No changes between participants treated with bumetanide and those treated with placebo were observed for most other outcome measures. Despite no relevant safety signals, bumetanide was poorly tolerated., Conclusions: There was no evidence in this study that bumetanide has efficacy in improving motor symptoms of PD. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

In Parkinson's disease (PD), it remains unclear whether sleep disorders including insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), restless legs syndrome (RLS) and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), are isolated or combined, interact with each other and are associated with clinical factors. We sought to determine the prevalence and combinations of the main sleep disorders, and their clinical and polysomnographic associations in early stage PD. Sleep disorders were systematically diagnosed after medical interview and video-polysomnography in 162 participants with early stage PD and 58 healthy controls from the baseline of the longitudinal ICEBERG cohort. Demographic, clinical (motor, cognitive, autonomic, psychological and sensory tests), therapeutic and polysomnographic associations of sleep disorders were investigated. Sleep disorders were frequent (71%) and combined in half of the patients. The number of sleep disorders increased with disease duration and dysautonomia. Insomnia was the most common (41%), followed by definite RBD (25%), EDS (25%), and RLS (16%). These disorders were more frequent than in controls whereas SDB was rare, moderate and similar in both groups. In patients, insomnia (mainly difficulties maintaining sleep) was associated with female gender, shorter sleep time and RLS, but not with motor or psychological symptoms. RBD was associated with dysautonomia and advanced age, but not with motor and cognitive measures. EDS was associated with psychiatric and motor symptoms as well as the sedative effects of dopamine agonists but not with other sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances are frequent and combined in early patients with PD. Their determinants and markers are more organic than psychological., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Impulse-control and related behavioral disorders (ICBDs) significantly impact the lives of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and caregivers, with lasting consequences if undiagnosed and untreated. While ICBD pathophysiology and risk factors are well-studied, a standardized severity definition and treatment evidence remain elusive., Objective: This work aimed to establish international expert consensus on ICBD treatment strategies. To comprehensively address diverse treatment availabilities, experts from various continents were included., Methods: From 2021 to 2023, global movement disorders specialists engaged in a Delphi process. A core expert group initiated surveys, involving a larger panel in three iterations, leading to refined severity definitions and treatment pathways., Results: Experts achieved consensus on defining ICBD severity, emphasizing regular PD patient screenings for early detection. General treatment recommendations focused on continuous monitoring, collaboration with significant others, and seeking specialist advice for legal or financial challenges. For mild to severe ICBDs, gradual reduction in dopamine agonists was endorsed, followed by reductions in other PD medications. Second-line treatment strategies included diverse approaches like reversing the last medication change, cognitive behavior therapy, subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation, and specific medications like quetiapine, clozapine, and antidepressants. The panel reached consensus on distinct treatment pathways for punding and dopamine dysregulation syndrome, formulating therapy recommendations. Comprehensive discussions addressed management strategies for the exacerbation of either motor or non-motor symptoms following the proposed treatments., Conclusion: The consensus offers in-depth insights into ICBD management, presenting clear severity criteria and expert consensus treatment recommendations. The study highlights the critical need for further research to enhance ICBD management. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Postoperative apathy is a frequent symptom in Parkinson's disease patients who have undergone bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Two main hypotheses for postoperative apathy have been suggested: (i) dopaminergic withdrawal syndrome relative to postoperative dopaminergic drug tapering; and (ii) direct effect of chronic stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. The primary objective of our study was to describe preoperative and 1-year postoperative apathy in Parkinson's disease patients who underwent chronic bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. We also aimed to identify factors associated with 1-year postoperative apathy considering: (i) preoperative clinical phenotype; (ii) dopaminergic drug management; and (iii) volume of tissue activated within the subthalamic nucleus and the surrounding structures. We investigated a prospective clinical cohort of 367 patients before and 1 year after chronic bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. We assessed apathy using the Lille Apathy Rating Scale and carried out a systematic evaluation of motor, cognitive and behavioural signs. We modelled the volume of tissue activated in 161 patients using the Lead-DBS toolbox and analysed overlaps within motor, cognitive and limbic parts of the subthalamic nucleus. Of the 367 patients, 94 (25.6%) exhibited 1-year postoperative apathy: 67 (18.2%) with 'de novo apathy' and 27 (7.4%) with 'sustained apathy'. We observed disappearance of preoperative apathy in 22 (6.0%) patients, who were classified as having 'reversed apathy'. Lastly, 251 (68.4%) patients had neither preoperative nor postoperative apathy and were classified as having 'no apathy'. We identified preoperative apathy score [odds ratio (OR) 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10, 1.22; P < 0.001], preoperative episodic memory free recall score (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88, 0.97; P = 0.003) and 1-year postoperative motor responsiveness (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.96, 0.99; P = 0.009) as the main factors associated with postoperative apathy. We showed that neither dopaminergic dose reduction nor subthalamic stimulation were associated with postoperative apathy. Patients with 'sustained apathy' had poorer preoperative fronto-striatal cognitive status and a higher preoperative action initiation apathy subscore. In these patients, apathy score and cognitive status worsened postoperatively despite significantly lower reduction in dopamine agonists (P = 0.023), suggesting cognitive dopa-resistant apathy. Patients with 'reversed apathy' benefited from the psychostimulant effect of chronic stimulation of the limbic part of the left subthalamic nucleus (P = 0.043), suggesting motivational apathy. Our results highlight the need for careful preoperative assessment of motivational and cognitive components of apathy as well as executive functions in order to better prevent or manage postoperative apathy., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Cognitive decline is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and its genetic risk factors are not well known to date, besides variants in the GBA and APOE genes. However, variation in complex traits is caused by numerous variants and is usually studied with genome-wide association studies (GWAS), requiring a large sample size, which is difficult to achieve for outcome measures in PD. Taking an alternative approach, we computed 100 polygenic scores (PGS) related to cognitive, dementia, stroke, and brain anatomical phenotypes and investigated their association with cognitive decline in six longitudinal cohorts. The analysis was adjusted for age, sex, genetic ancestry, follow-up duration, GBA and APOE status. Then, we meta-analyzed five of these cohorts, comprising a total of 1702 PD participants with 6156 visits, using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment as a cognitive outcome measure. After correction for multiple comparisons, we found four PGS significantly associated with cognitive decline: intelligence (p = 5.26e-13), cognitive performance (p = 1.46e-12), educational attainment (p = 8.52e-10), and reasoning (p = 3.58e-5). Survival analyses highlighted an offset of several years between the first and last quartiles of PGS, with significant differences for the PGS of cognitive performance (5 years) and educational attainment (7 years). In conclusion, we found four PGS associated with cognitive decline in PD, all associated with general cognitive phenotypes. This study highlights the common genetic factors between cognitive decline in PD and the general population, and the importance of the participant's cognitive reserve for cognitive outcome in PD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Clinical presentation and progression dynamics are variable in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Disease course mapping is an innovative disease modelling technique that summarizes the range of possible disease trajectories and estimates dimensions related to onset, sequence, and speed of progression of disease markers., Objective: To propose a disease course map for PD and investigate progression profiles in patients with or without rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorders (RBD)., Methods: Data of 919 PD patients and 88 isolated RBD patients from three independent longitudinal cohorts were analyzed (follow-up duration = 5.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-8.1] years). Disease course map was estimated by using eight clinical markers (motor and non-motor symptoms) and four imaging markers (dopaminergic denervation)., Results: PD course map showed that the first changes occurred in the contralateral putamen 13 years before diagnosis, followed by changes in motor symptoms, dysautonomia, sleep-all before diagnosis-and finally cognitive decline at the time of diagnosis. The model showed earlier disease onset, earlier non-motor and later motor symptoms, more rapid progression of cognitive decline in PD patients with RBD than PD patients without RBD. This pattern was even more pronounced in patients with isolated RBD with early changes in sleep, followed by cognition and non-motor symptoms and later changes in motor symptoms., Conclusions: Our findings are consistent with the presence of distinct patterns of progression between patients with and without RBD. Understanding heterogeneity of PD progression is key to decipher the underlying pathophysiology and select homogeneous subgroups of patients for precision medicine. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background: Exergaming has been proposed to improve gait and balance disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a home-based, tailored, exergaming training system designed for PD patients with dopa-resistant gait and/or balance disorders in a controlled randomized trial., Methods: We recruited PD patients with dopa-resistant gait and/or balance disorders. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to receive 18 training sessions at home by playing a tailored exergame with full-body movements using a motion capture system (Active group), or by playing the same game with the computer's keyboard (Control group). The primary endpoint was the between-group difference in the Stand-Walk-Sit Test (SWST) duration change after training. Secondary outcomes included parkinsonian clinical scales, gait recordings, and safety., Results: Fifty PD patients were enrolled and randomized. After training, no significant difference in SWST change was found between groups (mean change SWST duration [SD] -3.71 [18.06] s after Active versus -0.71 [3.41] s after Control training, p = 0.61). Some 32% of patients in the Active and 8% in the Control group were considered responders to the training program (e.g., SWST duration change ≥2 s, p = 0.03). The clinical severity of gait and balance disorders also significantly decreased after Active training, with a between-group difference in favor of the Active training (p = 0.0082). Home-based training induced no serious adverse events., Conclusions: Home-based training using a tailored exergame can be performed safely by PD patients and could improve gait and balance disorders. Future research is needed to investigate the potential of exergaming., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.)

Background: Longitudinal measures of structural brain changes using MRI in relation to clinical features and progression patterns in PD have been assessed in previous studies, but few were conducted in well-defined and large cohorts, including prospective clinical assessments of both motor and non-motor symptoms., Objective: We aimed to identify brain volumetric changes characterizing PD patients, and determine whether regional brain volumetric characteristics at baseline can predict motor, psycho-behavioral and cognitive evolution at one year in a prospective cohort of PD patients., Methods: In this multicentric 1 year longitudinal study, PD patients and healthy controls from the MPI-R2* cohort were assessed for demographical, clinical and brain volumetric characteristics. Distinct subgroups of PD patients according to motor, cognitive and psycho-behavioral evolution were identified at the end of follow-up., Results: One hundred and fifty PD patients and 73 control subjects were included in our analysis. Over one year, there was no significant difference in volume variations between PD and control subjects, regardless of the brain region considered. However, we observed a reduction in posterior cingulate cortex volume at baseline in PD patients with motor deterioration at one year (p = 0.017). We also observed a bilateral reduction of the volume of the amygdala (p = 0.015 and p = 0.041) and hippocampus (p = 0.015 and p = 0.053) at baseline in patients with psycho-behavioral deterioration, regardless of age, dopaminergic treatment and center., Conclusion: Brain volumetric characteristics at baseline may predict clinical trajectories at 1 year in PD as posterior cingulate cortex atrophy was associated with motor decline, while amygdala and hippocampus atrophy were associated with psycho-behavioral decline., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)