Browsing by Author "Brumm, Michael C."

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    Dopamine transporter imaging predicts clinically-defined α-synucleinopathy in REM sleep behavior disorder
    (Wiley, 2021) Chahine, Lana M.; Brumm, Michael C.; Caspell-Garcia, Chelsea; Oertel, Wolfgang; Mollenhauer, Brit; Amara, Amy; Fernandez-Arcos, Ana; Tolosa, Eduardo; Simonet, Cristina; Hogl, Birgit; Videnovic, Aleksandar; Hutten, Samantha J.; Tanner, Caroline; Weintraub, Daniel; Burghardt, Elliot; Coffey, Christopher; Cho, Hyunkeun R.; Kieburtz, Karl; Poston, Kathleen L.; Merchant, Kalpana; Galasko, Douglas; Foroud, Tatiana; Siderowf, Andrew; Marek, Kenneth; Simuni, Tanya; Iranzo, Alex; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Individuals with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) are at high risk for a clinical diagnosis of an α-synucleinopathy (aSN). They could serve as a key population for disease-modifying trials. Abnormal dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging is a strong candidate biomarker for risk of aSN diagnosis in iRBD. Our primary objective was to identify a quantitative measure of DAT imaging that predicts diagnosis of clinically-defined aSN in iRBD. Methods: The sample included individuals with iRBD, early Parkinson's Disease (PD), and healthy controls (HC) enrolled in the Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative, a longitudinal, observational, international, multicenter study. The iRBD cohort was enriched with individuals with abnormal DAT binding at baseline. Motor and nonmotor measures were compared across groups. DAT specific binding ratios (SBR) were used to calculate the percent of expected DAT binding for age and sex using normative data from HCs. Receiver operative characteristic analyses identified a baseline DAT binding cutoff that distinguishes iRBD participants diagnosed with an aSN in follow-up versus those not diagnosed. Results: The sample included 38 with iRBD, 205 with PD, and 92 HC who underwent DAT-SPECT at baseline. Over 4.7 years of mean follow-up, 14 (36.84%) with iRBD were clinically diagnosed with aSN. Risk of aSN diagnosis was significantly elevated among those with baseline putamen SBR ≤ 48% of that expected for age and sex, relative to those above this cutoff (hazard ratio = 17.8 [95%CI: 3.79-83.3], P = 0.0003). Conclusion: We demonstrate the utility of DAT SBR to identify individuals with iRBD with increased short-term risk of an aSN diagnosis.
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    Longitudinal clinical and biomarker characteristics of non-manifesting LRRK2 G2019S carriers in the PPMI cohort
    (Springer, 2022-10-22) Simuni, Tanya; Merchant, Kalpana; Brumm, Michael C.; Cho, Hyunkeun; Caspell-Garcia, Chelsea; Coffey, Christopher S.; Chahine, Lana M.; Alcalay, Roy N.; Nudelman, Kelly; Foroud, Tatiana; Mollenhauer, Brit; Siderowf, Andrew; Tanner, Caroline; Iwaki, Hirotaka; Sherer, Todd; Marek, Kenneth; Parkinson’s Progression Marker Initiative Authors; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    We examined 2-year longitudinal change in clinical features and biomarkers in LRRK2 non-manifesting carriers (NMCs) versus healthy controls (HCs) enrolled in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). We analyzed 2-year longitudinal data from 176 LRRK2 G2019S NMCs and 185 HCs. All participants were assessed annually with comprehensive motor and non-motor scales, dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging, and biofluid biomarkers. The latter included cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Abeta, total tau and phospho-tau; serum urate and neurofilament light chain (NfL); and urine bis(monoacylglycerol) phosphate (BMP). At baseline, LRRK2 G2019S NMCs had a mean (SD) age of 62 (7.7) years and were 56% female. 13% had DAT deficit (defined as <65% of age/sex-expected lowest putamen SBR) and 11% had hyposmia (defined as ≤15th percentile for age and sex). Only 5 of 176 LRRK2 NMCs developed PD during follow-up. Although NMCs scored significantly worse on numerous clinical scales at baseline than HCs, there was no longitudinal change in any clinical measures over 2 years or in DAT binding. There were no longitudinal differences in CSF and serum biomarkers between NMCs and HCs. Urinary BMP was significantly elevated in NMCs at all time points but did not change longitudinally. Neither baseline biofluid biomarkers nor the presence of DAT deficit correlated with 2-year change in clinical outcomes. We observed no significant 2-year longitudinal change in clinical or biomarker measures in LRRK2 G2019S NMCs in this large, well-characterized cohort even in the participants with baseline DAT deficit. These findings highlight the essential need for further enrichment biomarker discovery in addition to DAT deficit and longer follow-up to enable the selection of NMCs at the highest risk for conversion to enable future prevention clinical trials.
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    LRRK2-associated parkinsonism with and without in vivo evidence of alpha-synuclein aggregates: longitudinal clinical and biomarker characterization
    (Oxford University Press, 2025-03-06) Chahine, Lana M.; Lafontant, David-Erick; Choi, Seung Ho; Iwaki, Hirotaka; Blauwendraat, Cornelis; Singleton, Andrew B.; Brumm, Michael C.; Alcalay, Roy N.; Merchant, Kalpana; Holohan Nudelman, Kelly Nicole; Dagher, Alain; Vo, Andrew; Tao, Qin; Venuto, Charles S.; Kieburtz, Karl; Poston, Kathleen L.; Bressman, Susan; Gonzalez-Latapi, Paulina; Avants, Brian; Coffey, Christopher; Jennings, Danna; Tolosa, Eduardo; Siderowf, Andrew; Marek, Ken; Simuni, Tatyana; Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Among LRRK2-associated parkinsonism cases with nigral degeneration, over two-thirds demonstrate evidence of pathologic alpha-synuclein, but many do not. Understanding the clinical phenotype and underlying biology in such individuals is critical for therapeutic development. Our objective was to compare clinical and biomarker features, and rate of progression over 4 years of follow-up, among LRRK2-associated parkinsonism cases with and without in vivo evidence of alpha-synuclein aggregates. Data were from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a multicentre prospective cohort study. The sample included individuals diagnosed with Parkinson disease with pathogenic variants in LRRK2. Presence of CSF alpha-synuclein aggregation was assessed with seed amplification assay. A range of clinician- and patient-reported outcome assessments were administered. Biomarkers included dopamine transporter scan, CSF amyloid-beta1-42, total tau, phospho-tau181, urine bis(monoacylglycerol)phosphate levels and serum neurofilament light chain. Linear mixed-effects (LMMs) models examined differences in trajectory in CSF-negative and CSF-positive groups. A total of 148 LRRK2 parkinsonism cases (86% with G2019S variant), 46 negative and 102 positive for CSF alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay, were included. At baseline, the negative group was older than the positive group [median (inter-quartile range) 69.1 (65.2-72.3) versus 61.5 (55.6-66.9) years, P < 0.001] and a greater proportion were female [28 (61%) versus 43 (42%), P = 0.035]. Despite being older, the negative group had similar duration since diagnosis and similar motor rating scale [16 (11-23) versus 16 (10-22), P = 0.480] though lower levodopa equivalents. Only 13 (29%) of the negative group were hyposmic, compared with 75 (77%) of the positive group. The negative group, compared with the positive group, had higher per cent-expected putamenal dopamine transporter binding for their age and sex [0.36 (0.29-0.45) versus 0.26 (0.22-0.37), P < 0.001]. Serum neurofilament light chain was higher in the negative group compared with the positive group [17.10 (13.60-22.10) versus 10.50 (8.43-14.70) pg/mL; age-adjusted P-value = 0.013]. In terms of longitudinal change, the negative group remained stable in functional rating scale score in contrast to the positive group who had a significant increase (worsening) of 0.729 per year (P = 0.037), but no other differences in trajectory were found. Among individuals diagnosed with Parkinson disease with pathogenic variants in the LRRK2 gene, we found clinical and biomarker differences in cases without versus with in vivo evidence of CSF alpha-synuclein aggregates. LRRK2 parkinsonism cases without evidence of alpha-synuclein aggregates as a group exhibit less severe motor manifestations and decline. The underlying biology in LRRK2 parkinsonism cases without evidence of alpha-synuclein aggregates requires further investigation.
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    Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative: A Milestone-Based Strategy to Monitor Parkinson's Disease Progression
    (IOS Press, 2023) Brumm, Michael C.; Siderowf, Andrew; Simuni, Tanya; Burghardt, Elliot; Choi, Seung Ho; Caspell-Garcia, Chelsea; Chahine, Lana M.; Mollenhauer, Brit; Foroud, Tatiana; Galasko, Douglas; Merchant, Kalpana; Arnedo, Vanessa; Hutten, Samantha J.; O’Grady, Alyssa N.; Poston, Kathleen L.; Tanner, Caroline M.; Weintraub, Daniel; Kieburtz, Karl; Marek, Kenneth; Coffey, Christopher S.; Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background: Identifying a meaningful progression metric for Parkinson's disease (PD) that reflects heterogeneity remains a challenge. Objective: To assess the frequency and baseline predictors of progression to clinically relevant motor and non-motor PD milestones. Methods: Using data from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) de novo PD cohort, we monitored 25 milestones across six domains ("walking and balance"; "motor complications"; "cognition"; "autonomic dysfunction"; "functional dependence"; "activities of daily living"). Milestones were intended to be severe enough to reflect meaningful disability. We assessed the proportion of participants reaching any milestone; evaluated which occurred most frequently; and conducted a time-to-first-event analysis exploring whether baseline characteristics were associated with progression. Results: Half of participants reached at least one milestone within five years. Milestones within the cognitive, functional dependence, and autonomic dysfunction domains were reached most often. Among participants who reached a milestone at an annual follow-up visit and remained active in the study, 82% continued to meet criteria for any milestone at one or more subsequent annual visits and 55% did so at the next annual visit. In multivariable analysis, baseline features predicting faster time to reaching a milestone included age (p < 0.0001), greater MDS-UPDRS total scores (p < 0.0001), higher GDS-15 depression scores (p = 0.0341), lower dopamine transporter binding (p = 0.0043), and lower CSF total α-synuclein levels (p = 0.0030). Symptomatic treatment was not significantly associated with reaching a milestone (p = 0.1639). Conclusion: Clinically relevant milestones occur frequently, even in early PD. Milestones were significantly associated with baseline clinical and biological markers, but not with symptomatic treatment. Further studies are necessary to validate these results, further assess the stability of milestones, and explore translating them into an outcome measure suitable for observational and therapeutic studies.
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    Staged Screening Identifies People with Biomarkers Related to Neuronal Alpha-Synuclein Disease
    (Wiley, 2025) Brown, Ethan G.; Chahine, Lana M.; Siderowf, Andrew; Gochanour, Caroline; Kurth, Ryan; Marshall, Micah J.; Caspell-Garcia, Chelsea; Brumm, Michael C.; Stanley, Craig E., Jr.; Korell, Monica; McMahon, Bridget; Kuhl, Maggie; Fabrizio, Kimberly; Heathers, Laura; Concha-Marambio, Luis; Soto, Claudio; Chowdhury, Sohini; Coffey, Christopher S.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Simuni, Tanya; Marek, Kenneth; Tanner, Caroline M.; Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Objective: Remote identification of individuals with severe hyposmia may enable scalable recruitment of participants with underlying alpha-synuclein aggregation. We evaluated the performance of a staged screening paradigm using remote smell testing to enrich for abnormal dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography imaging (DAT-SPECT) and alpha-synuclein aggregation. Methods: The Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) recruited participants for the prodromal cohort who were 60-years and older without a Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Participants were invited to complete a University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) independently through an online portal. Hyposmic participants were invited to complete DAT-SPECT, which determined eligibility for enrollment in longitudinal assessments and further biomarker evaluation including cerebrospinal fluid alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (aSynSAA). Results: As of January 29, 2024, 49,843 participants were sent an UPSIT and 31,293 (63%) completed it. Of UPSIT completers, 8,301 (27%) scored <15th percentile. Of 1,546 who completed DAT-SPECT, 1,060 (69%) had DAT-SPECT binding <100% expected for age and sex. Participants with an UPSIT <10th percentile (n = 1,221) had greater likelihood of low DAT-SPECT binding compared to participants with an UPSIT in the 10th to 15th percentile (odds ratio, 3.01; 95% confidence interval, 1.85-4.91). Overall, 55% (198/363) of cases with UPSIT <15th percentile and DAT-SPECT <100% had positive aSynSAA, which increased to 70% (182/260) when selecting for more severe hyposmia (UPSIT <10th percentile). Interpretation: Remote screening for hyposmia and reduced DAT-SPECT binding identifies participants with a high proportion positive aSynSAA. Longitudinal data will be essential to define progression patterns in these individuals to ultimately inform recruitment into disease modification clinical trials.