Parkinson’s disease with hyposmia and dysautonomia: does it represent a distinct subtype?

Olfactory dysfunction or dysautonomia is one of the earliest prodromal nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). We aimed to investigate whether PD patients with dysautonomia and hyposmia at the de novo stage present different prognoses regarding PD dementia (PDD) conversion, motor complication development, and change in levodopa-equivalent doses (LED).

In this retrograde cohort study, we included 105 patients with newly diagnosed PD patients who underwent cross-cultural smell identification test (CC-SIT), autonomic function tests (AFT), and dopamine transporter (DAT) scan at the de novo stage. PD patients were divided into Hyposmia + /Dysautonomia + (H + /D +) and Hyposmia − /Dysautonomia − (H − /D −) groups depending on the result of AFT and CC-SIT. Baseline clinical, cognitive, imaging characteristics, longitudinal risks of PDD development and motor complication occurrence, and longitudinal LED changes were compared between the two groups.

When compared with the H − /D − group, the H + /D + group showed lower standardized uptake value ratios in all subregions, lower asymmetry index, and steeper ventral − dorsal gradient in the DAT scan. The H + /D + group exhibited poorer performance in frontal/executive function and a higher risk of PDD development. The risk of motor complications including levodopa-induced dyskinesia, wearing off, and freezing of gait, was comparable between the two groups. The analysis of longitudinal changes in LED using a linear mixed model showed that the increase of LED in the H + /D + group was more rapid.

Our results suggest that PD patients with dysautonomia and hyposmia at the de novo stage show a higher risk of PD dementia conversion and rapid progression of motor symptoms.