Apolipoprotein E genotype, Alzheimer's pathologies and related gene expression in the aged population.
We have investigated the effect of genotypes of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) on the pathologies found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its related gene expression in 38 aged human brains obtained from consecutive autopsied cases. ApoE2/3, -3/3, -3/4, and -4/4 were typed in those aged brains, with ApoE3/3 being most prevalent. The AD pathologies were undetectable in ApoE2/3 brains, but were frequently observed in the other ApoE groups. In ApoE3/3 brains, 55%, 34%, and 24% of the cortical sections examined showed senile plaques (SPs), neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), respectively. In ApoE4/4 brains, the SP formation was significantly higher. The ApoE genotype neither affected ApoE, APP, or tau mRNA level, nor the differential expression of the latter two. These results suggest that ApoE4/4 accelerates and ApoE2/3 decelerates the development of the AD pathologies in the aged brain, but this is not through alterations of the APP and tau gene expression.
Oyama
F
F
Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Shimada
H
H
Oyama
R
R
Ihara
Y
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015870:Gene Expression; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D015335:Molecular Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016875:tau Proteins