Alterations of Regional Homogeneity in the Mild and Moderate Stages of Parkinson’s Disease

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate alterations in regional homogeneity (ReHo) in early Parkinson’s disease (PD) at different Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stages and to demonstrate the relationships between altered brain regions and clinical scale scores. Methods: We recruited 75 PD patients, including 43 with mild PD (PD-mild; HY stage: 1.0–1.5) and 32 with moderate PD (PD-moderate; HY stage: 2.0–2.5). We also recruited 37 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects as healthy controls (HC). All subjects underwent neuropsychological assessments and a 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance scanning. Regional homogeneity of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals was used to characterize regional cerebral function. Correlative relationships between mean ReHo values and clinical data were then explored. Results: Compared to the HC group, the PD-mild group exhibited increased ReHo values in the right cerebellum, while the PD-moderate group exhibited increased ReHo values in the bilateral cerebellum, and decreased ReHo values in the right superior temporal gyrus, the right Rolandic operculum, the right postcentral gyrus, and the right precentral gyrus. Reho value of right Pre/Postcentral was negatively correlated with HY stage. Compared to the PD-moderate group, the PD-mild group showed reduced ReHo values in the right superior orbital gyrus and the right rectus, in which the ReHo value was negatively correlated with cognition. Conclusion: The right superior orbital gyrus and right rectus may serve as a differential indicator for mild and moderate PD. Subjects with moderate PD had a greater scope for ReHo alterations in the cortex and compensation in the cerebellum than those with mild PD. PD at HY stages of 2.0–2.5 may already be classified as Braak stages 5 and 6 in terms of pathology. Our study revealed the different patterns of brain function in a resting state in PD at different HY stages and may help to elucidate the neural function and early diagnosis of patients with PD.