APOE influences on neuropsychological function after mild head injury: within-person comparisons.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between neuropsychological outcome following mild head injury (MHI) and APOE genotype.


METHODS
Data from a population-based longitudinal study (n = 3,500) were used to identify 34 adults who experienced MHI during the course of the study. Their pre- and postinjury performances on a battery of nine neuropsychological tests were compared within person, and the postinjury performance was compared with that of age- and gender-matched control subjects.


RESULTS
The within-person comparisons showed that participants with at least one APOE epsilon4 allele (n = 11) had a significantly decreased postinjury performance on three of the tests, whereas the postinjury performance for APOE epsilon4-negative participants (n = 23) was unchanged. There was no significant difference in postinjury performance between participants with/without the epsilon4 allele, and neither group was impaired relative to controls.


CONCLUSIONS
APOE genotype may influence the outcome following an MHI. Pre/postinjury within-person comparisons seem more sensitive than control group comparisons for detecting injury-related effects.
Sundström
A
A
Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden. anna.sundstrom@psy.umu.se
Marklund
P
P
Nilsson
L-G
LG
Cruts
M
M
Adolfsson
R
R
Van Broeckhoven
C
C
Nyberg
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E