Decreased Cerebrospinal Fluid Aβ42 in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease and White Matter Lesions

Background: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), often manifesting as white matter lesions (WMLs), and Parkinson's disease (PD) are common disorders whose prevalence increases with age. Vascular risk factors contribute to SVD, but their role in PD is less clear. Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the frequency and grade of WMLs in PD, and their association with clinical and biochemical parameters. Methods: In total, 100 consecutive patients with available magnetic resonance imaging were included. Vascular risk factors including smoking, hypertension, diabetes type 2, atrial fibrillation, heart insufficiency and hypercholesterolemia were assessed. In 50 patients that had underwent lumbar puncture, cerebrospinal fluid (csf) levels of beta-amyloid(1-42), tau and phospho-tau were measured. Results: WMLs were present in 86 of 100 patients. Increasing WML severity was independently associated with increased age and lower csf beta-amyloid(1-)(42). Conclusions: In our study, WMLs were very common in patients with PD, and were associated with low levels of csf beta-amyloid(1-)(42). Longitudinal studies would increase understanding of the interplay between WMLs and amyloid pathology in PD.