Biomarker Test Can Predict Cognitive Decline In Patients With Parkinson’s Disease, Study Finds

MedPage Today (6/23, George) reports, “Kinetic measures of a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker test predicted cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease and distinguished it from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), an analysis of data from three cohorts showed.” Researchers observed that “in the international Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort, faster seeding kinetics of the CSF alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay at baseline predicted cognitive decline in both sporadic and gene-associated Parkinson’s over 4.5 years.” The finding was later “replicated in the Tübingen Parkinson’s disease cohort over 4 years.” Investigators noted that “in the PPMI cohort and the Tübingen cohort, GBA1-associated Parkinson’s disease showed faster seeding kinetics than sporadic Parkinson’s. Seeding kinetics also predicted cognitive decline in a subgroup of Parkinson’s patients in the PPMI cohort who did not have Alzheimer’s disease co-pathology.” The study was published in The Lancet Neurology.