Theresa Lüth, Amke Caliebe, Carolin Gabbert, Sebastian Sendel, Björn-Hergen Laabs, Inke R. König, Christine Klein, Joanne Trinh
{"title":"Longitudinal assessment of the association between pesticide exposure and lifestyle with Parkinson’s disease motor severity","authors":"Theresa Lüth, Amke Caliebe, Carolin Gabbert, Sebastian Sendel, Björn-Hergen Laabs, Inke R. König, Christine Klein, Joanne Trinh","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01010-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01010-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Longitudinal investigations on the relationship between lifestyle exposures and motor severity are lacking. In this longitudinal study, we included patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (iPD) (<i>N</i> = 5139) and <i>LRRK2</i>-related PD (<i>N</i> = 81) from PPMI-Online and Fox Insight. Motor aspects were followed for up to five years. We investigated the association between environmental exposure, lifestyle factors and motor aspect severity over time by applying linear mixed effects models. In <i>LRRK2</i>-PD, black tea consumption was associated with less severe motor aspects (β = −0.51, <i>p</i> = 0.028). In patients with iPD, pesticide exposure was associated with more severe motor aspects over time in PPMI-Online (β = 0.23, <i>p</i> = 3.56 × 10<sup>−</sup><sup>9</sup>). Lastly, caffeinated soda was associated with more severe motor aspects in patients with iPD from PPMI-Online (β = 0.15, <i>p</i> = 3.84 × 10<sup>−8</sup>) and Fox Insight (β = 0.09, <i>p</i> = 0.031). We suggest that pesticide exposure and lifestyle factors may affect motor severity in patients with <i>LRRK2</i>-PD and iPD, demonstrating the impact on patients even after disease onset.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144278721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yoonsang Oh, Joong-Seok Kim, Gilsoon Park, Sang-Won Yoo, Dong-Woo Ryu, Hosung Kim
{"title":"Clinical correlates of data-driven subtypes of deep gray matter atrophy and dopamine availability in early Parkinson’s disease","authors":"Yoonsang Oh, Joong-Seok Kim, Gilsoon Park, Sang-Won Yoo, Dong-Woo Ryu, Hosung Kim","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01037-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01037-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recent machine-learning techniques may be useful to identify subtypes with distinct spatial patterns of biomarker abnormality in the various neurodegenerative diseases. Using the Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) technique, we categorized data-driven subtypes of PD by examining the deep gray matter volume and dopamine availability and compared cardiac denervation, cognition, and motor symptoms between these subtypes. The SuStaIn algorithm revealed two distinctive subtypes, which were well replicated in an external dataset. Subtype 1 was characterized by lower dopamine availability apparent at early inferred stages, severe cardiac denervation, mild cognitive dysfunction in the early stage, and patterns suggesting accelerated motor and cognitive dysfunction associated with later stages. In contrast, subtype 2 showed patterns indicative of earlier brain atrophy, mild cardiac denervation, and severe cognitive dysfunction apparent at early inferred stages, with no significant correlation between motor and cognitive status and SuStaIn stage. These findings suggest that the machine-learning model can identify heterogeneity in PD biomarker profiles, offering insights into potential region and stage-specific patterns of biomarker abnormality and their clinical implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144278723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ali Yilmaz, Nadia Ashrafi, Romana Ashrafi, Sumeyya Akyol, Nazia Saiyed, Ieva Kerševičiūtė, Migle Gabrielaite, Juozas Gordevicius, Stewart F. Graham
{"title":"Lipid profiling of Parkinson’s disease brain highlights disruption in Lysophosphatidylcholines, and triacylglycerol metabolism","authors":"Ali Yilmaz, Nadia Ashrafi, Romana Ashrafi, Sumeyya Akyol, Nazia Saiyed, Ieva Kerševičiūtė, Migle Gabrielaite, Juozas Gordevicius, Stewart F. Graham","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01023-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01023-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder following Alzheimer’s disease, with a 1.5 times higher prevalence in males. Several lipid-related genetic risk factors for PD have been identified, and the brain lipid signature of PD patients is distinguishable from controls. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying PD and its sex differences, we conducted a lipidomic analysis of postmortem brain samples from the primary motor cortex (Brodmann area 4) of 40 PD patients and 43 age- and sex-matched matched controls. Mass spectrometry based lipidomics analysis revealed notable differences in 95 lipid species, especially Triacylglycerols and Lysophosphatidylcholines. Notably, sex-stratified analysis suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction may explain the higher prevalence of PD in males. These findings highlight lipid dysregulation in PD and point to potential biomarkers for diagnosis, warranting further validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"217 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144260289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiri Nepozitek, Stanislav Marecek, Veronika Rottova, Simona Dostalova, Tomas Krajca, Jiri Keller, Karel Sonka, Petr Dusek
{"title":"Glymphatic dysfunction evidenced by DTI-ALPS is related to obstructive sleep apnea intensity in newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease","authors":"Jiri Nepozitek, Stanislav Marecek, Veronika Rottova, Simona Dostalova, Tomas Krajca, Jiri Keller, Karel Sonka, Petr Dusek","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01018-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01018-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Glymphatic dysfunction potentially contributes to Parkinson’s disease (PD) via impaired clearance of metabolic waste products. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can disturb sleep, which is necessary for proper glymphatic function, and is frequent in PD. We investigated the glymphatic function in de novo PD and its relation to OSA. Fifty-four PD patients (mean age 58.9 ± 12.2 years) and 32 controls (mean age 59.4 ± 8.3 years) underwent polysomnography and 3 T magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) was calculated using atlas-based automatic regions of interest selection. In PD, ALPS-index negatively correlated with apnea-hypopnea index (rho = −0.41; <i>p</i> = 0.002), oxygen desaturation index (rho = −0.38; <i>p</i> = 0.006), sleep stage N1 (rho = −0.42; <i>p</i> = 0.002), and arousal index (rho = −0.24; <i>p</i> = 0.018), while in controls, no such correlations were observed. Glymphatic dysfunction is related to OSA severity in de novo PD but not in controls. We suggest that OSA may contribute to neurodegeneration via glymphatic impairment in PD.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144260399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"L-Dopa-induced changes in aperiodic bursts dynamics relate to individual clinical improvement in Parkinson’s disease","authors":"Hasnae Agouram, Matteo Neri, Marianna Angiolelli, Damien Depannemaecker, Jyotika Bahuguna, Antoine Schwey, Jean Régis, Romain Carron, Nicole Malfait, Alexandre Eusebio, Emmanuel Daucé, Pierpaolo Sorrentino","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01024-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01024-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by severe motor symptoms, transiently alleviated by medication (e.g. levodopa), and widespread brain activity alterations that remain poorly understood at a large scale level. To address this issue, we used resting-state STN-DBS and motor EEG data from 11 PD patients before and after levodopa treatment. Neuronal avalanches, i.e., brief, widespread bursts of activities, were detected and compared across the two conditions. Interestingly, we noted shorter and smaller avalanches in the OFF-condition and fewer, longer, and larger avalanches in the ON-condition. We then computed the avalanche transition matrices to track the contact-wise patterns of avalanche spread. We found a significantly higher probability of avalanche spread within and between the STN and motor cortex in the ON-condition. Furthermore, increased propagation of avalanches correlated with clinical improvement. Our study identifies potential biomarkers for electrophysiological changes in PD through cross-modality assessment of aperiodic activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144260290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lydia Vela-Desojo, Alba Pascual, Victor Montal, Carmen Guerrero, Mireia Osuna-López, Victor Guallar, Francesc Palau, Janet Hoenicka
{"title":"A new LRRK2 variant in a family with Parkinson’s disease affects binding to RAB8A","authors":"Lydia Vela-Desojo, Alba Pascual, Victor Montal, Carmen Guerrero, Mireia Osuna-López, Victor Guallar, Francesc Palau, Janet Hoenicka","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-00989-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-00989-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pathogenic variants in the <i>LRRK2</i> gene affecting catalytic domains are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Nevertheless, <i>LRRK2</i> variants at the armadillo (ARM) domain would indirectly affect the protein’s activity by interacting with RAB proteins. We present a family with PD recurrence segregating the new <i>LRRK2</i> allele at the ARM domain, p.[Leu.119Pro;Leu488Pro]. Clinical exams were conducted on nine relatives. Neuropathology of the index case showed loss of substantia nigra neurons and Alzheimer’s disease-type lesions. In silico analysis of the p.[Leu.119Pro;Leu488Pro] <i>LRRK2</i> variant predicted alterations in ARM tertiary structure and binding affinity. These predictions were supported by functional genomics using recombinant LRRK2<sup>WT</sup> and LRRK2<sup>Leu119Pro;Leu488Pro</sup>. We found increased interaction between LRRK2<sup>Leu119Pro;Leu488Pro</sup> and RAB8A, but not with RAB10. Additionally, docking studies revealed stronger affinity of LRRK2<sup>Leu119Pro;Leu488Pro</sup> for RAB8A (<i>P</i> < 0.0001) and allosteric properties beyond the mutated residues. We propose p.[Leu119Pro;Leu488Pro] as a cause of familial PD.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144236982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"EGFR phosphorylates DNAJB1 to suppress α-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson’s disease","authors":"Yun-Yu Huang, Sue-Jane Lin, Wei-Yu Chiang, Yuan-Teng Chang, Chan-Chih Yang, Chia-Yu Liao, Ya-Lan Chang, Chin-Hsien Lin, Shu-Chun Teng","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01006-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01006-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Parkinson’s disease (PD), characterized by α-synuclein accumulation in dopaminergic neurons, is a common neurodegenerative disorder. Recent findings highlight DNAJB1 as a crucial factor in the disaggregation of α-synuclein fibrils in vitro, yet the underlying mechanisms and regulatory processes in neuronal cells remain largely undefined. This study reveals that DNAJB1 facilitates the clearance of α-synuclein via the Hsp70 chaperone system. Phosphorylation of DNAJB1 at tyrosine 5 by the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is essential for mitigating α-synuclein aggregation, enhancing its interaction with Hsp70. Dysregulation of this pathway disrupts α-synuclein delivery to Hsp70, worsening aggregation in neuronal cells. Analysis of human brain lysates from individuals with PD and unaffected controls showed reduced levels of EGFR and DNAJB1, with an increase in phosphorylated DNAJB1 at Y5. These findings elucidate mechanisms in PD pathology and suggest DNAJB1 as a promising candidate for targeted therapeutic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shi Tang, Bei Huang, Yanlin Wang, Yaping Liu, Jing Wang, Li Zhou, Siyi Gong, Yuhua Yang, Joey WY Chan, Steven WH Chau, Winnie CW Chu, Jill Abrigo, Jean-François Gagnon, Yun Kwok Wing
{"title":"Brain-clinical biotyping in patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder","authors":"Shi Tang, Bei Huang, Yanlin Wang, Yaping Liu, Jing Wang, Li Zhou, Siyi Gong, Yuhua Yang, Joey WY Chan, Steven WH Chau, Winnie CW Chu, Jill Abrigo, Jean-François Gagnon, Yun Kwok Wing","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01012-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01012-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a prodromal stage of α-synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet its clinical heterogeneity remains underexplored. This study aimed to identify novel brain-clinical biotypes in iRBD by integrating structural MRI and clinical assessments. We included 172 patients with video-polysomnography-confirmed iRBD and 126 controls who underwent multimodal MRI and clinical evaluation. Similarity Network Fusion was used to integrate cortical thickness, surface area, subcortical volume, and clinical data, followed by spectral clustering to identify iRBD biotypes. Two distinct biotypes were identified: Biotype 1 showed widespread cortical-subcortical-cerebellar atrophy, functional hypoconnectivity, more motor and cognitive deficits with higher prodromal PD risk; Biotype 2 demonstrated increased surface area in limbic and parietal regions, cortical-cerebellar hyperconnectivity, and preserved neurocognitive function. These findings underscore the presence of distinct neurobiological subtypes in iRBD, highlighting the need for longitudinal monitoring to clarify their trajectories and implications for disease progression.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peikun He, Yanyi Li, Zhiheng Huang, Yuyuan Gao, Qingrui Duan, Yihui Qiu, Shujun Feng, Ruiyun Huang, Liangxu Gong, Guixian Ma, Yuhu Zhang, Lin Shi, Lijuan Wang, Kun Nie
{"title":"Peripheral inflammation’s variable impact on cognitive and symptomatic outcomes in Parkinson’s disease: a longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis","authors":"Peikun He, Yanyi Li, Zhiheng Huang, Yuyuan Gao, Qingrui Duan, Yihui Qiu, Shujun Feng, Ruiyun Huang, Liangxu Gong, Guixian Ma, Yuhu Zhang, Lin Shi, Lijuan Wang, Kun Nie","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01019-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01019-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Increasing evidence supported a link between peripheral inflammation and Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the role of peripheral inflammation in the progression of PD clinical symptoms remained unclear. This study evaluates peripheral inflammation using serum differential leukocyte counts and their derived ratios. A total of 170 PD patients were retrospectively enrolled from Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (GDPH) and 68 from PPMI. Partial correlation analysis showed that neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) negatively correlated with MoCA in GDPH but not in PPMI. Moreover, peripheral inflammation was shown to correlate with white matter integrity. The result of the longitudinal analysis showed that higher baseline NLR predicted worsening in letter number sequencing (LNS) score. Path analysis indicated that white matter integrity significantly mediated the relationship between NLR and cognitive change in the LNS score from Year 5 to baseline. Peripheral inflammation is associated with global cognition and white matter integrity in PD and predicts cognitive decline.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marjan J. Meinders, Laura Heathers, King Chung Ho, Laura Russell, Chris Li, Bastiaan R. Bloem, William J. Marks Jr, Ritu Kapur
{"title":"Optimizing wrist-worn wearable compliance with insights from two Parkinson’s disease cohort studies","authors":"Marjan J. Meinders, Laura Heathers, King Chung Ho, Laura Russell, Chris Li, Bastiaan R. Bloem, William J. Marks Jr, Ritu Kapur","doi":"10.1038/s41531-025-01016-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01016-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Wearable technologies enable real-time, continuous, noninvasive data collection, where long-term compliance is essential. The Personalized Parkinson Project (PPP) and the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) utilized the Verily Study Watch. Participants, including people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD), prodromal PD, and healthy controls, were instructed to wear the watch for up to 23 h daily without data displaying or reporting data back to the participant. Compliance measures and user experiences were evaluated. A centralized support model identified barriers to data collection and enabled proactive outreach. Median daily wear time was 21.9 h for PPP and 21.1–22.2 h per day for PPMI over 2 years. Participants were highly motivated contributing to PD research. These results highlight strategies for achieving strong engagement without providing individual data. This approach offers valuable insights for study designs where returning data to participants could introduce bias or affect the data integrity.</p>","PeriodicalId":19706,"journal":{"name":"NPJ Parkinson's Disease","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144228975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}