Apolipoprotein E4 accelerates dementia and increases cerebrospinal fluid tau levels in Alzheimer's disease.
To examine the effect of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) 4 on the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the clinical course of 33 AD patients (17 cases with ApoE epsilon4 and 16 cases without ApoE epsilon4) was evaluated with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biological markers. The decline of MMSE scores to zero was shortened in the ApoE4 group. During a mean follow-up of 20 months, a significant increase of CSF tau levels was observed in the ApoE4 group. A lower level of CSF A beta1-42(43) was found in both the ApoE4 and non-ApoE4 groups than in age-matched normal controls. The ApoE epsilon4 allele accelerates the progression of dementia and increases the levels of CSF tau in AD patients.
Kanai
M
M
Department of Neurology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi-city, Japan. miekanai@akagi.sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
Shizuka
M
M
Urakami
K
K
Matsubara
E
E
Harigaya
Y
Y
Okamoto
K
K
Shoji
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D016875:tau Proteins