Serum p-tau217 Is a Prognostic Indicator of Cognitive Impairment in Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

Yan S., Sahoo A., Zerenner T., Marek K., Sommerauer M., Oertel W., Hu MT., Tofaris GK.

OBJECTIVE: Assess the performance of serum phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) in predicting risk of cognitive impairment or phenoconversion to dementia in individuals with iRBD. METHODS: We measured serum p-tau217 and NfL levels by electrochemiluminescence across 4 polysomnographically confirmed iRBD cohorts (n = 300), including individuals who phenoconverted to Parkinson's disease (PD) (n = 51), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) (n = 22), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) (n = 5). RESULTS: Serum p-tau217 levels were increased in individuals with iRBD and cognitive impairment (CI) on testing defined as Montreal Cognitive Assessment <26 or subthreshold parkinsonism. p-Tau217 differentiated individuals with iRBD who developed PD with CI (PD-CI) or DLB from PD phenoconverters with normal cognition (area under curve [AUC] = 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.70-0.93) and from iRBD non-phenoconverters with normal cognition (AUC = 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.89). NfL levels did not correlate with cognitive or motor scores and marginally improved p-tau217 performance (AUC = 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.78-0.92), but were notably elevated in iRBD individuals who phenoconverted to MSA. Individuals with p-tau217 in the top quartile were 8 times more likely to phenoconvert to PD-CI or DLB compared to the bottom quartile (hazard ratio = 8.30; 95% confidence interval, 2.49-27.65). INTERPRETATION: Serum p-tau217, but not NfL, is a useful biomarker of cognitive impairment in iRBD that could be integrated into a multimodal prognostic indicator when stratifying risk of phenoconversion. ANN NEUROL 2026;99:912-921.

DOI

10.1002/ana.78109

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2026-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Volume

99

Pages

912 - 921

Total pages

9

Keywords

Humans, Male, tau Proteins, Female, Aged, Cognitive Dysfunction, REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, Prognosis, Biomarkers, Middle Aged, Parkinson Disease, Neurofilament Proteins, Aged, 80 and over, Lewy Body Disease, Phosphorylation, Cohort Studies, Multiple System Atrophy, Polysomnography

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