Public Health

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) are two neurodegenerative disorders that manifest disabling postural instability, parkinsonism, cognitive impairment and falls with brain neurofibrillary tangle lesions containing 4-repeat tau protein. The prevalence is 6/100,000 inhabitants but estimated only from descriptions made in North America, Europe or Japan. To describe a multicenter collaborative initiative for studying the epidemiology and tau biology of Argentinean patients with PSP and CBS, Consorcio Argentino de Investigación Traslacional en Tauopatias Primarias (CAITauP).

A prospective observational cohort of people with PSP (PwPSP) and CBS will be longitudinally studied. Deep clinical phenotyping, neurocognitive testing every 12 months, and biosamples collection at baseline are planned. Disease severity will be assessed every 6 months and history of environmental exposures will be assessed at baseline.

There were 50 patients enrolled with PSP (36), CBS (10), and undifferentiated parkinsonism with cognitive impairment (4). Female gender was 51%, mean age 74 years, with estimated disease duration of 5.5 years. Ethnicity was mostly Hispanic/Latino (78%), european descendant (28.5%), and assian (1.5%). Variant phenotypes of PSP were: 36% Richardson syndrome, 19%PSP-Progressive gait freezing, 18% PSP-corticobasal, 14% PSP-parkinsonsm, 9% PSP-Speech/languaje variant, 3% PSP-pure postural inestability, and 1,5% pure PSP-oculomotor. Disease severity measured by the PSP-rating scale (PSPRS) was 54. Preliminary findings of the initially enrolled patients showed that more than 60% of enrolled patients have completed first visit and biosamples collection, and two patients underwent brain donation. Environmental exposures of a subsample are reported and compared to those of patients with Parkinson's disease.

The CAITauP includes a comprehensive cohort of PwPSP in Argentina that has achieved progress in patient recruitment, deep clinical phenotyping and biobanking. Early findings highlight the feasibility of translational research in tauopathies in developing countries of South America. The consortium aims to address underrepresented groups of South American populations in ongoing research aimed to improve diagnosis, treatment, and to create trial-ready cohorts that enhance translational research in PSP.