Objective: To assess and compare the non-motor symptoms (NMS) profile in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) patients using Parkinson’s Disease Non-Motor Symptom Rating Scale (NMSS).

Background: NMS can be disabling and usually occur in HD and PD. The shared and distinct NMS features in HD and PD have not been fully understood.

Method: We have been conducting Tiantan longitudinal observational study for aging and neurodegenerative diseases (LOS-AND) since September 2018 with ethical approval from the Ethical Committee of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University. By February 2023, 99 HD cases and 153 patients with PD have been consecutively recruited. The inclusion criteria for PD were that the patients met the clinical diagnostic criteria of the Movement Disorders Society (MDS); the inclusion criteria for HD were the presence of HTT gene mutation (CAG repeat number > 36). Metrics for clinical information collection include demographic data and motor function evaluated by Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale-Total Motor Score (UHDRS-TMS) for HD and MDS-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III (MDS-UPDRS-III) for PD; The overall function was assessed through the total functional capacity (TFC) scale for HD and the modified Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) staging for PD. Since July 2021, NMSS was added to the enrollment protocol in these cohorts.

Results: Fifty-two HD subjects and 87 PD patients were included in this study. The age at recruitment was 48.10±11.88 years old (mean±SD) for HD and 69.22±9.93 years old (mean±SD) for PD (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in disease duration and gender distribution between HD and PD patients. The NMSS total scores in clinical HD and PD were 27.35±30.13 (mean±SD) and 36.14±30.77 (mean±SD) , respectively (p>0.05). The NMSS total scores were correlated with TFC scores (r=-0.485, p<0.01) and UHDRS-TMS scores (r=0.432, p<0.01) in HD. While in PD, the NMSS total scores were correlated with modified H-Y stage (r=0.515, p<0.001) and UPDRS-III score (r=0.430, p<0.001). The most common NMS in HD patients were easy to forget (61.5%), dysphagia (61.5.%), and constipation (44.2%), while the most common NMS in PD patients was constipation (70.1%), easy to forget (55.2%), and depression (48.3%).

Conclusion: The burdens of NMS in HD and PD are comparable; NMS are closely related to the overall function and motor function of HD and PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-comparative-study-of-non-motor-symptoms-in-huntingtons-disease-and-parkinsons-disease/