| 1. |
- Lind, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced functional brain activity response in cognitively intact apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers
- 2006
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Ingår i: Brain. - : Oxford University Press. - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 129:5, s. 1240-1248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (APOE epsilon4) is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Genetic assessments in combination with other diagnostic tools, such as neuroimaging, have the potential to facilitate early diagnosis. In this large-scale functional MRI (fMRI) study, we have contrasted 30 APOE epsilon4 carriers (age range: 49-74 years; 19 females), of which 10 were homozygous for the epsilon4 allele, and 30 non-carriers with regard to brain activity during a semantic categorization task. Test groups were closely matched for sex, age and education. Critically, both groups were cognitively intact and thus symptom-free of Alzheimer's disease. APOE epsilon4 carriers showed reduced task-related responses in the left inferior parietal cortex, and bilaterally in the anterior cingulate region. A dose-related response was observed in the parietal area such that diminution was most pronounced in homozygous compared with heterozygous carriers. In addition, contrasts of processing novel versus familiar items revealed an abnormal response in the right hippocampus in the APOE epsilon4 group, mainly expressed as diminished sensitivity to the relative novelty of stimuli. Collectively, these findings indicate that genetic risk translates into reduced functional brain activity, in regions pertinent to Alzheimer's disease, well before alterations can be detected at the behavioural level.
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| 2. |
- Wikgren, Mikael, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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APOE ε4 is associated with longer telomeres, and longer telomeres among ε4 carriers predicts worse episodic memory
- 2012
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 33:2, s. 335-344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both leukocyte telomere length and the apolipoprotein ε4 allele have been associated with mortality, cardiovascular disease, cognition, and dementia. The authors investigated whether leukocyte telomere length was associated with APOE genotype or cognitive abilities in the context of APOE genotype. The setting for this cross-sectional study was 427 nondemented individuals aged 41–81 yr. The authors found that ε4 carriers overall exhibited significantly longer telomeres compared with non-carriers (difference of 268 bp, p = 0.001). This difference was greatest at the lower limit of the age span and nonsignificant at the upper limit, which translated into a significantly higher telomere attrition rate (p = 0.049) among ε4 carriers (37 bp/years) compared with non-carriers (21 bp/year). Further, longer telomeres among ε4 carriers significantly predicted worse performance on episodic memory tasks. No significant associations were found on tasks tapping semantic and visuospatial ability, or among ε3/ε3 carriers. In conclusion, APOE ε4 carriers had longer telomeres compared with non-carriers, but higher rate of attrition. Among them, longer telomeres predicted worse performance on episodic memory tasks. These observations suggest that the ε4 allele is associated with abnormal cell turnover of functional and possibly clinical significance.
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| 3. |
- Wikgren, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Longer Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Associated with Smaller Hippocampal Volume among Non-Demented APOE epsilon 3/epsilon 3 Subjects
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 7:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Telomere length shortens with cellular division, and leukocyte telomere length is used as a marker for systemic telomere length. The hippocampus hosts adult neurogenesis and is an important structure for episodic memory, and carriers of the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele exhibit higher hippocampal atrophy rates and differing telomere dynamics compared with non-carriers. The authors investigated whether leukocyte telomere length was associated with hippocampal volume in 57 cognitively intact subjects (29 epsilon 3/epsilon 3 carriers; 28 epsilon 4 carriers) aged 49-79 yr. Leukocyte telomere length correlated inversely with left (r(s) = -0.465; p = 0.011), right (r(s) = -0.414; p = 0.025), and total hippocampus volume (r(s) = -0.519; p = 0.004) among APOE epsilon 3/epsilon 3 carriers, but not among epsilon 4 carriers. However, the epsilon 4 carriers fit with the general correlation pattern exhibited by the epsilon 3/epsilon 3 carriers, as epsilon 4 carriers on average had longer telomeres and smaller hippocampi compared with epsilon 3/epsilon 3 carriers. The relationship observed can be interpreted as long telomeres representing a history of relatively low cellular proliferation, reflected in smaller hippocampal volumes. The results support the potential of leukocyte telomere length being used as a biomarker for tapping functional and structural processes of the aging brain.
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