Luxembourg Parkinson’s study - comprehensive baseline analysis of Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonism#

Authors#

Pavelka L; Rawal R; Ghosh S; Pauly, C, Pauly L; Hanff AM; Kolber P; Jónsdóttir SR; McIntyre D; Azaiz K; Thiry E; Vilasboas L; Soboleva E; Giraitis M; Tsurkalenko O; Sapienza S; Diederich NJ; Klucken J; Glaab E; Aguayo GA; Jubal ER; Perquin M; Vaillant M; May P; Gantenbein M; Satagopam V; Krüger R on behalf of the NCER-PD Consortium

Abstract#

Background: Deep phenotyping of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is essential to investigate the clinical and etiological heterogeneity of this fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder. Since 2015, the observational, monocentric, longitudinal- prospective Luxembourg Parkinson’s study has recruited >800 individuals with PD and atypical parkinsonism along with >800 control subjects.

Objective: To describe the profile of the Luxembourg Parkinson’s study baseline dataset and to explore risk factors, comorbidities and clinical profiles associated with PD, atypical parkinsonism and controls.

Methods: Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of all 1648 participants divided in disease and control groups were investigated. Then, a cross-sectional group comparison was performed between the three largest groups: PD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and controls by using Student’s t-test or Mann Whitney U-test where applicable. For categorical variables, chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was applied, where appropriate. Subsequently, multiple linear and logistic regression models were fitted adjusting for confounders.

Results: The mean (SD) age at onset (AAO) of PD was 62.3 (11.8) years with 15% early onset (AAO < 50 years), mean disease duration 4.90 (5.16) years, male sex 66.5% and mean MDS-UPDRS III 35.2 (16.3). For PSP, the respective values were: 67.6 (8.2) years, all PSP with AAO>50 years, 2.80 (2.62) years, 62.7% and 53.3 (19.5). The highest frequency of hyposmia was detected in PD followed by PSP and controls (72.9%; 53.2%; 14.7%), challenging the use of hyposmia as distinct feature in PD over PSP. Alcohol abstinence is significantly higher in PD than controls (17.6% vs. 12.9%, p=0.003).

Conclusion: Luxembourg Parkinson’s study baseline dataset constitutes a valuable resource to further strengthen the understanding of complex traits in the aforementioned neurodegenerative disorders. It corroborated several previously observed clinical profiles, as well as presented an additional insight on frequency of hyposmia in PSP and dietary habits, such as alcohol abstinence in PD.