| 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. |
- Lind, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced hippocampal volume in non-demented carriers fo the apolipoprotein E ε4 : Relation to chronological age and recognition memory
- 2006
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Ingår i: Neuroscience Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3940 .- 1872-7972. ; 396:1, s. 23-27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some previous studies have reported structural brain changes as well as cognitive deficits in non-demented APOE ε4 carriers, but the pattern of results is inconsistent and studies with larger sample sizes have been called for. Here we compared hippocampal volume and recognition–memory performance between AD-symptom-free carriers (N = 30) and non-carriers (N = 30) of the APOE ε4 (age range: 49–79 years). We observed reduced right hippocampal volume in APOE ε4 carriers, and found that the difference was most pronounced before the age of 65. Further, the APOE ε4 carriers made significantly more false alarms in the recognition–memory test, and the number of false alarms correlated significantly with right hippocampus volume. These results indicate that relatively young individuals at genetic risk for AD have smaller hippocampal volume and lower performance on hippocampal-dependent cognitive tasks. A question for the future is whether smaller hippocampal volume represents early-onset hippocampal volume reduction or an inherent trait.
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| 3. |
- 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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| 4. |
- 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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| 5. |
- Lind, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Parietal cortex activation predicts memory decline in apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 carriers
- 2006
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Ingår i: NeuroReport. - Oxford : Rapid Communications of Oxford. - 0959-4965 .- 1473-558X. ; 17:16, s. 1683-1686
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Apolipoprotein E-[varepsilon]4 is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Functional abnormalities in the parietal cortex have been reported for Alzheimer's disease patients and also for those at risk. Hence, a critical question is whether measurements of parietal cortex integrity may predict negative outcome among at-risk persons. We studied nondementedapolipoprotein E-[varepsilon]4 carriers and found a significant relationship between parietal blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging response during a word categorization task and subsequent episodic memory performance. Thus, the results show that parietal cortex alterations predict memory decline in nondemented apolipoprotein E-[varepsilon]4 carriers, and hence likely progression to Alzheimer's disease.
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| 6. |
- Persson, Jonas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Altered brain white matter integrity in healthy carriers of the APOE epsilon4 allele : A risk for AD?
- 2006
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Ingår i: Neurology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 66, s. 1029-1033
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E (APOE) represent genetic risk factors for dementia and for cognitive impairment in the elderly. The neural mechanisms by which these genetic variations influence behavioral performance or clinical severity are not well understood.METHODS: The authors used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate ultrastructural properties in brain white matter to detect pathologic processes that modify tissue integrity. Sixty participants were included in the study of which 30 were homozygous for the APOE epsilon3 allele, 10 were homozygous for the APOE epsilon4 allele, and 20 had the APOE epsilon34 allele combination. All individuals were non-demented, and the groups were matched on demographic variables and cognitive performance.RESULTS: The results showed a decline in fractional anisotropy, a marker for white matter integrity, in the posterior corpus callosum of epsilon4 carriers compared to non-carriers. Additional sites of altered white matter integrity included the medial temporal lobe.CONCLUSIONS: Although the mechanism underlying vulnerability of white matter tracts in APOE epsilon4 carriers is still unknown, these findings suggest that increased genetic risk for developing Alzheimer disease is associated with changes in microscopic white matter integrity well before the onset of dementia.
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| 7. |
- Sundström, Anna, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Fatigue before and after mild traumatic brain injury: Pre- and post-comparisons in relation to ApolipoproteinE
- 2007
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Ingår i: Brain Injury. - London : Informa UK Limited. - 0269-9052 .- 1362-301X. ; 21:10, s. 1049-1054
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Primary objective: To assess the incidence of fatigue for persons following a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and to evaluate the relationship between fatigue and APOE genotype. As fatigue is often found to be influenced by anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance, these factors were also measured. Methods and procedures: Thirty-one persons who sustained a MTBI were drawn from a population-based longitudinal study. Each person who sustained a MTBI was matched by age, gender, education and APOE genotype with two non-head injury controls. Self-reported pre- and post-injury incidence of fatigue, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance was compared within-group and between groups. Results: For the MTBI group, incidence of fatigue was almost twice as common post- than pre-injury, whereas there was no corresponding change in a non-injured control group. Within the MTBI-group, post-injury fatigue was particularly common for carriers of the APOE ε4 allele. Conclusions: Fatigue is common sequela after a MTBI and especially pronounced for carriers of the APOE ε4 allele.
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| 8. |
- Sundström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Increased risk of dementia following mild head injury for carriers but not for non-carriers of the APOE ε4 allele.
- 2007
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Ingår i: International Psychgeriatrics. ; 19
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Background: The є4-allele of Apolipoprotein-E (APOE) and head injury are risk factors for dementia diseases, and these factors may act synergistically to further increase the risk. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between mild head injury, APOE, and dementia.Methods: Data were obtained from the Betula prospective population-based study of aging, memory, and health. The study included 543 participants in the age range 40-85 years, free of dementia at baseline, who were followed-up within a 5-year interval. Dementia was classified using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Criteria. Information of previous head injury was done through screening of the participants’ answers to health questionnaires both at baseline and at following test occasions.Results: We found that subjects with head injury but without APOE є4 had no increased risk of dementia. Subjects with APOE є4 had elevated risk and those with both APOE є4 and head injury had the highest risk (OR = 5.2).Conclusions: This study confirms that APOE ε4 constitutes a risk factor of dementia, that mild injury in isolation does not increase the risk, but that head injury in combination with the APOE ε4 lead to increased risk of dementia.
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| 9. |
- de Frias, Cindy M., et al.
(författare)
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Cholesterol and triglycerides moderate the effect of apolipoprotein E on memory functioning in older adults.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. - Washington : The gerontological society of America. - 1079-5014 .- 1758-5368. ; 62B:2, s. P112-P118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We used data from the Betula Study to examine associations between total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein E on 10-year changes in cognitive performance. Tests assessing episodic memory (recall and recognition), semantic memory (knowledge and fluency), and visuospatial ability (block design) were administered to 524 nondemented adults (initial age of 55-80 years); multilevel modeling was applied to the data. Higher triglyceride levels were associated with a decline in verbal knowledge. Lipid levels moderated the influence of apolipoprotein E on episodic memory, such that among epsilon 4 allele carriers, decline in recognition was noted for individuals with higher cholesterol levels. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels are pharmacologically modifiable risk factors that account for variation In normal cognitive aging.
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| 10. |
- Sternäng, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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APOE and lipid level synergy effects on declarative memory functioning in adulthood
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Psychologist. - : Hogrefe Publishing Group. - 1016-9040 .- 1878-531X. ; 14:4, s. 268-278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study of the general population examined interactions of the gene Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and/or lipid levels, and their effects on cognitive change. A MANCOVA model based on longitudinal data (with a 5 year follow-up) obtained from the Betula study (n = 1777; age 35–85 years) was used. The significant two-way and three-way interaction effects detected were equally frequent in tests of episodic and semantic memory. A difference in the distribution of interaction effects on episodic and semantic memory decline was also found. Men demonstrated the worst cognitive development as shown by significant two-way interaction effects on episodic memory whereas two-way interaction effects among women resulted in the worst semantic memory development. This result is discussed from the viewpoint that tests of episodic and semantic memory have different cognitive demands. This study focuses on how interaction effects of the gene APOE and vascular risk factors (such as lipid levels) affect cognitive abilities and also whether the interaction effects vary across age and sex. In this study, the main focus is on interaction effects as a phenomenon in itself.
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