BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Movement Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1638852
Detecting amyloid and tau pathology in Parkinson disease, 4R-tauopathies and control subjects with plasma ptau217
Provisionally accepted
Giulia Musso1
Eleonora Fiorenzato2*
Valentina Misenti2
Simone Cauzzo2Roberta Biundo3Carmelo Fogliano2Giulia Bonato2Wassilios G. Meissner4
Marta Campagnolo2
Miryam Carecchio2Francesca Vianello3
Andrea Guerra2Chiara Cosma5
Annachiara Cagnin2
Diego Cecchin6Martina Montagnana5
Angelo Antonini2- 1Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- 2Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- 3Azienda Ospedale Universita Padova Unita Operativa Complessa Clinica Neurologica, Padua, Italy
- 4Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Talence, France
- 5Universita degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Medicina, Padua, Italy
- 6Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Introduction:Plasma phospho-tau 217 (pTau217) is a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, reflecting amyloid (Aβ) and tau burden, but its role in Parkinson disease (PD) and 4repeat(4R)-tauopathies remains incompletely understood. We measured plasma pTau217 across the cognitive spectrum of Lewy body diseases (PD, Dementia with Lewy bodies [DLB]) and in 4Rtauopathies, comparing these groups to cognitively unimpaired (CU) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals. Methods: Participants included 18 cognitively normal PD (PD-NC), 32 PD with MCI, and 7 PD with dementia (PDD), alongside 4 DLB patients, grouped as PDD/DLB. The 4R-tauopathy group included 28 Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and 4 corticobasal syndrome (CBS) patients, compared to 51 CU and 26 MCI individuals. Ptau217 was measured using the fully automated Lumipulse platform, with values adjusted for creatinine levels. Further, the presence of AD-pathology was defined using a validated cut-off based on Aβ-PET. Results:PTau217 levels were significantly lower in PD-NC and CU individuals compared to those with greater cognitive impairment (PD-MCI, PDD/DLB, and PSP/CBS), and MCI individuals. AD copathology was identified in 28% of PDD/DLB and PSP/CBS patients, 16% of PD-MCI, and none of PD-NC. MCI showed the highest pTau217 positivity(35%), while 8% of CU individuals were positive despite normal cognition. In PD, pTau217 negatively correlated with cognitive performance, as assessed by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA:rs=-0.38,p=0.004) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE:rs=-0.37,p=0.006).Discussion:Plasma pTau217 levels serve as a scalable, non-invasive marker of AD-pathology across Lewy body diseases, PSP/CBS, and MCI/CU populations. AD co-pathology independently contributes to cognitive deficits in PD, but not in PSP/CBS.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Mild Cognitive Impairment, ptau217, Amyloid, tau, Dementia, blood-based biomarkers English (US)
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Musso, Fiorenzato, Misenti, Cauzzo, Biundo, Fogliano, Bonato, Meissner, Campagnolo, Carecchio, Vianello, Guerra, Cosma, Cagnin, Cecchin, Montagnana and Antonini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eleonora Fiorenzato, Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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