Integrated Clinical Features with Plasma and Multi-modal Neuroimaging Biomarkers to Diagnose Mild Cognitive Impairment in Early Drug-Naive Parkinson’s Disease

The pathogenesis of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients remains unclear, and there is no ideal diagnostic tool available at present. We assessed integrated clinical features with plasma and multi-modal neuroimaging biomarkers to identify mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in early drug-naive PD patients. 49 early drug-naive PD patients, including 26 with MCI (PD-MCI) and 23 with normal cognition (PD-NC), and 20 controls were recruited. Plasma markers [α-synuclein, beta-amyloid 1-40 (Aβ40), beta-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ42), and phosphorylated Tau 181 (p-Tau181) levels], functional connectivity (FC) of the default mode network, and cortical thickness (CTh) were evaluated to identify PD-MCI. The PD-MCI group had significantly higher plasma p-Tau181 levels and p-Tau181/Aβ42 ratio and lower Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio compared to the PD-NC group. Compared to PD-NC, the PD-MCI group showed increased FC between left posterior cingulate cortex (pCC) and the left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and between the right hippocampal formation and the left anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, and the right middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, the PD-MCI group had thinner cortex thickness in the right lateral occipital and frontal pole compared to the PD-NC group. The final model combining clinical characteristics and several variables (age, sex, plasma p-Tau181 level, Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, the right lateral occipital CTh, and the FC value between the left pCC and left PHG) had the highest diagnostic accuracy for PD-MCI (AUC = 0.987, 95% CI 0.903–1.000; p = 0.001 compared to age and sex alone). The combination of clinical features, plasma biomarkers, and multi-modal neuroimaging biomarkers can identify early cognitive decline in PD patients.