Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The prognostic role of plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL), phospho-tau, beta-amyloid, and GFAP is still debated in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Plasma p-tau181, p-tau231, Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42, GFAP, and NfL were measured by SIMOA in 136 PD with 2.9 + 1.7 years of follow-up and 76 controls. Differences in plasma levels between controls and PD and their correlation with clinical severity and progression rates were evaluated using linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Patients exhibited similar distribution of plasma biomarkers but higher P-tau181, P-tau231 and lower Aβ1-42 compared with controls. NfL and GFAP correlated with baseline motor and non-motor severity measures. At follow-up, NfL emerged as the best predictor of progression with marginal effect of GFAP and p-tau181 adjusting for age, sex, disease duration, and baseline motor severity. CONCLUSION: The present findings confirmed plasma NfL as best predictor of progression in PD, with a marginal role of p-tau181 and GFAP.