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.
Department of Neurology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi-city, Japan. miekanai@akagi.sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
M
M
Kanai
M
M
Shizuka
K
K
Urakami
E
E
Matsubara
Y
Y
Harigaya
K
K
Okamoto
M
M
Shoji
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