Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study cohort at baseline
| Variable | HC (n = 36) | PD (n = 143) | MSA (n = 13) | PSP (n = 18) | P-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | ||
| Age (years) | 68.2 | (6.6) | 71.2 | (9.9) | 73.6 | (9.6) | 75.0 | (7.1) | 0.020 |
| Sex (male/female) | 20/16 | 85/58 | 8/5 | 8/10 | 0.002 | ||||
| Education (years) | 11.6 | (3.5) | 10.0 | (4.1) | 8.7 | (3.6) | 8.2 | (3.1) | 0.009 |
| Duration (years) | 1.8 | (1.4) | 1.9 | (0.9) | 2.1 | (1.5) | 0.507 | ||
| MMSE | 29.1 | (0.8) | 28.5 | (1.7) | 29.0 | (1.1) | 27.9 | (1.6) | 0.104 |
| MADRS | 0.3 | (0.5) | 4.5 | (3.7) | 8.0 | (7.4) | 7.7 | (9.4) | <0.001 |
| UPDRS III | 27.6 | (11.6) | 27.8 | (12.1) | 29.3 | (11.8) | <0.001 | ||
| UPDRS Tot | 38.1 | (14.6) | 39.5 | (16.9) | 39.2 | (14.7) | 0.947 | ||
| H&Y stage | 2.3 | (0.7) | 2.7 | (0.8) | 2.8 | (0.9) | 0.004 | ||
| Olfactory function | 9.5 | (2.0) | 6.5 | (2.7) | 7.0 | (3.3) | 7.1 | (2.3) | <0.001 |
| Syst. blood pressure | 146 | (20) | 149 | (22) | 150 | (23) | 0.250 | ||
| Syst. pressure drop | 11 | (19) | 21 | (22) | 2 | (15) | 0.025 | ||
| Ever smoker, n (%) | 48 (34.0%) | 7 (53.8%) | 3 (18.8%) | 0.145 | |||||
| MCI, n (%) | 4 (11.8%) | 62 (43.4%) | 3 (23.1%) | 14 (77.8%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Alcohol use, n (yes/no) | 82/60 | 9/4 | 7/9 | 0.417 | |||||
| Biomarkers | |||||||||
| BMI | 25.6 | (4.7) | 26.0 | (3.6) | 25.0 | (3.0) | 28.9 | (3.9) | 0.250 |
| APOE ɛ4 carrier | 10/21 | 31/100 | 0/13 | 4/14 | 0.299 | ||||
| CSF NfL | 895 | (283) | 1446 | (1216) | 2028 | (1740) | 2562 | (1516) | <0.001 |
| CSF Aβ42 | 826 | (230) | 715 | (225) | 639 | (261) | 565 | (193) | 0.003 |
| CSF NFL to Aβ42 ratio | 1.3 | (0.8) | 2.3 | (2.0) | 3.8 | (3.3) | 4.7 | (2.4) | <0.001 |
| CSF α-synuclein | 0.8 | (0.3) | 0.8 | (0.4) | 0.9 | (0.4) | 0.6 | (0.3) | 0.230 |
| CSF tau | 304 | (139) | 299 | (189) | 270 | (118) | 257 | (105) | 0.745 |
| Blood leucocytes | — | — | 6.4 | (1.5) | 5.5 | (1.7) | 6.9 | (1.7) | 0.062 |
| Blood TSH | — | — | 1.88 | (1.38) | 1.81 | (1.01) | 2.38 | (3.19) | 0.942 |
| Blood B12 | — | — | 420 | (230) | 597 | (486) | 506 | (258) | |
| Blood folate | — | — | 21.4 | (12.9) | 21.1 | (12.1) | 23.0 | (13.9) | 0.900 |
| DAT deficit, caudate | 0.0 | (1.0) | −2.7 | (1.1) | −2.8 | (1.5) | −3.3 | (1.0) | <0.001 |
| DAT deficit, putamen | 0.0 | (1.0) | −3.9 | (0.9) | −3.7 | (.9) | −4.2 | (0.9) | <0.001 |
Data are means and SDs from 36 HCs and 174 patients with new-onset idiopathic Parkinson disease, MSA and PSP. Olfactory function was measured by the number of correct answers on the 12-item brief smell inventory test. P-values for group differences are calculated by the Kruskal–Wallis test (non-normal distributions), ANOVA (normal distributions) or χ2. MMSE, mini-mental state examination; MADRS, Montgomery–Åsberg depression scale; UPDRS, Unified Parkinson disease rating scale; H&Y stage, Hoehn and Yahr stage; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; NfL, neurofilament light chain protein; Aβ142, β-amyloid 42; DAT, dopamine active transporter.