Given the clinical heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease (PD), identification of early -stage subgroups with shared non-motor symptom (NMS) profiles may clarify its pathophysiology. This study used lat Show more
Given the clinical heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease (PD), identification of early -stage subgroups with shared non-motor symptom (NMS) profiles may clarify its pathophysiology. This study used latent-profile analyses (LPA) to define subgroups based on sleep disturbances, cognitive performance and neuropsychiatric symptoms, and examined dopaminergic function and brain volume differences between them. We analyzed data from 51 cognitively normal non-PD older adults and 105 early-stage PD participants from the iPARK trial, including 19 who underwent [ LPA identified a two-cluster solution as the best fit. Group 1 ( These findings indicate clinically distinct subgroups in early-stage PD. Greater NMS burden is linked to impaired dopaminergic integrity, suggesting a potential neurobiological signature. Early identification of such subgroups may improve understanding of disease heterogeneity and support personalized management and interventions. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03680170?id=NCT03680170&rank=1, identifier (NCT03680170). Show less