Association between plasma neurofilament light chain levels and cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

This study investigated the potential association between levels of plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) and cognitive function in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) in P.R. China.We collected a total of 168 participants (130 PD patients and 38 healthy controls),and evaluated the relationship of plasma NfL levels with cognitive dysfunction in PD patients. Our results shown that plasma NfL levels increased with an increase in cognitive impairment across the three groups of PD patients: PD with normal cognition (PD-NC), 17.9 ± 8.9 pg/ml; PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI),21.9 ± 10.3 pg/ml; and PD dementia (PDD), 35.7 ± 21.7 pg/ml. Higher MMSE scores were associated with lower plasma NfL levels (r = -0.49, 95% CI -0.61 to -0.34, p < 0.0001). Our results associating plasma NfL levels with cognitive dysfunction in PD are consistent with previous studies carried out in several countries/district, based on our meta-analysis.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease,Cognitive impairment/dysfunction,disease progress,plasma neurofilament light chain.