Objective: To compared clinical burden, neuropsychological features, CSF and imaging pathology in early untreated PD patients with and without HT.

Background: Hypertension (HT) has been associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) but the link between these two pathologies remains unknown.

Methods: Using the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database, we evaluated motor and non-motor symptoms, neuropsychological features, CSF alpha-synuclein, total tau, p-tau and Aβ1-42 and striatal dopaminergic [123I]FP-CIT SPECT uptakes in early untreated PD patients with and without HT. Region of interest (ROI) and Voxel-based analyses were performed by using Analyze 12.0 and SPM 12.0, respectively. We used occipital cortex as reference region for ROI analysis.

Results: Compared to PD patients without HT, PD patients with HT showed worse motor symptoms (UPDRS III P<0.01; UPDRS III subscores for bradykinesia P<0.01 and rigidity P<0.05) and loss of [123I]FP-CIT uptake in the most affected posterior putamen (P<0.001). In the whole population, higher systolic (SBP) and pulse blood pressure (PBP) correlated with worse motor symptoms (r= 0.39; p=0.005 for SBP; for r=0.36; p=0.01 for PBP) and greater loss of posterior putamen [123I]FP-CIT uptake (r=-0.329; p=0.02 for SBP; for r=-0.356 ; p=0.01 for PBP).

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that HT is associated with a more severe PD phenotype including increased dopaminergic pathology, and suggest that an optimal management of HT may help with PD symptoms.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/hypertension-and-parkinsons-disease/