The Association of APOE Genotype with Cognitive Function in Persons Aged 35 Years or Older

Abstract

APOE genotype is associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we investigated whether APOE genotype was associated with cognitive function in predominantly middle-aged persons. In a population-based cohort of 4,135 persons aged 35 to 82 years (mean age (SD), 55 (12) years), cognitive function was measured with the Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT; worst score, 0 points; best score, 175 points). APOE genotype (rs429358 and rs7412) was determined by polymerase chain reaction. The mean RFFT score (SD) of the total cohort was 69 (26) points. Unadjusted, the mean RFFT score in homozygous APOE ε4 carriers was 4.66 points lower than in noncarriers (95% confidence interval, -9.84 to 0.51; p = 0.08). After adjustment for age and other risk factors, the mean RFFT score in homozygous APOE ε4 carriers was 5.24 points lower than in noncarriers (95% confidence interval, -9.41 to -1.07; p = 0.01). The difference in RFFT score was not dependent on age. There was no difference in RFFT score between heterozygous APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers. The results indicated that homozygous APOE ε4 carriers aged 35 years or older had worse cognitive function than heterozygous carriers and noncarriers.

Association of GWAS Top Hits With Late-onset Alzheimer Disease in Korean Population

“…30 In this study, the APOE E4 allele (E4/E4, E4/E3, and E4/E2) frequency was 47% in AD cases and 19% in controls. This APOE E4 allele frequency of our study subjects is lower than those reported from previous European studies, [31][32][33][34][35] whereas our data are similar to results from Japanese study. 36 In consistent with previous studies, our study showed 2 APOE SNPs (rs429358 and rs2075650) were significantly associated with AD susceptibility after Bonferroni correction, confirming the influence of APOE gene in AD risk of Korean population.…”

Age and gender effects on DNA strand break repair in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

“…The age span from 40 to 77 years is a period of life with substantial decrease in physical and cognitive functions (Frederiksen et al , 2002; Izaks et al , 2011; Jeppesen et al , 2011), and we hypothesized that this decline is reflected in DNA repair parameters. This study involves a molecular investigation of repair capacity of SSBs and DSBs in isolated PBMCs from the study subjects by three molecular assays.…”

Cholesterol Homeostasis Imbalance and Brain Functioning: Neurological Disorders and Behavioral Consequences

“…Moreover, it was observed that human apoE4 knock-in mice show a decrease in long-term potentiation, excitatory synaptic transmission and dendritic arborization, which determine impaired synaptic and cognitive functions [45][46][47][48]. These experimental data corroborate with clinical evidence, demonstrating that apoε4 homozygosity confers a substantial cognitive function decline in persons aged 35 years or older [49]. The putative connection between cholesterol metabolism and AD is supported by evidence relating other genes involved in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism and the onset of AD.…”