The vagus nerve (VN) is the main neural pathway linking the gut and brain in Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this study, we utilized high-resolution ultrasound to measure the VN cross-sectional area (CSA) in 96 healthy controls (HCs) and 75 PD patients. The PD group was further categorized into three subgroups: PD-preRBD, PD-postRBD, and PD-nonRBD. PD-preRBD was the body-first subtype, and PD-postRBD and PD-nonRBD were the brain-first subtype. The PD group had a significantly lower VN CSA than HCs. Subgroup analysis revealed that the PD-preRBD group tended to exhibit a smaller VN CSA than both the PD-postRBD and PD-nonRBD groups. The VN CSA, specifically the right VN, was significantly correlated with the body-first subtype and some components of PD-related assessment scales. Overall, these findings provide evidence of VN atrophy in PD, especially in body-first PD, suggesting that VN ultrasound could serve as an adjunctive diagnostic tool.

迷走神经 （VN） 是帕金森病 （PD） 中连接肠道和大脑的主要神经通路。在这项研究中，我们利用高分辨率超声测量了 96 名健康对照 （HCs） 和 75 名 PD 患者的 VN 横截面积 （CSA）。PD 组进一步分为 PD-preRBD 、 PD-postRBD 和 PD-nonRBD 3 个亚组。PD-preRBD 是身体优先的亚型，PD-postRBD 和 PD-nonRBD 是脑优先的亚型。PD 组的 VN CSA 显著低于 HCs。亚组分析显示，PD-preRBD 组的 VN CSA 往往比 PD-postRBD 组和 PD-nonRBD 组小。VN CSA，特别是右侧 VN，与身体优先亚型和 PD 相关评估量表的某些组成部分显著相关。总体而言，这些发现提供了 PD 中 VN 萎缩的证据，尤其是在身体优先的 PD 中，表明 VN 超声可以作为辅助诊断工具。