title: Regional cerebral perfusion in patients with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: effect of APOE epsilon4 allele.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon 4 allele on regional cerebral perfusion (rCBF) changes using arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in subjects who are carriers or noncarriers of this risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five subjects with AD, 25 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 25 cognitively normal (CN) subjects underwent isotropic volumetric T1-weighted imaging and pulsed ASL MRI. All subjects were divided into carrier or noncarriers of the epsilon4 allele. Voxel-based statistical analyses were performed among groups on rCBF by ANOVA tests. In each subject group, we also evaluated the rCBF change between carrier and noncarrier groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  rCBF was significantly reduced in AD subjects compared to other subjects. In CN and AD subjects, rCBF in the carrier group was significantly reduced in several areas of the brain compared with that of the noncarrier group. In the carrier group, rCBF was significantly increased in the right parahippocampal gyrus, the bilateral cingulate gyri and the right posterior cingulate on the MCI group in addition to the right superior frontal gyrus in the AD group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  rCBF in the CN and AD groups were significantly reduced in the subjects with the carriers of the epsilon4 allele, which is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, rCBF in the MCI group was significantly increased in subjects who were carriers. Therefore, rCBF can be used as a biomarker to show disease progression in areas of the brain of MCI subjects.
authors: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors: Sun Mi
authors: SM
authors: Kim
authors: Min Ji
authors: MJ
authors: Kim
authors: Hak Young
authors: HY
authors: Rhee
authors: Chang-Woo
authors: CW
authors: Ryu
authors: Eui Jong
authors: EJ
authors: Kim
authors: Esben Thade
authors: ET
authors: Petersen
authors: Geon-Ho
authors: GH
authors: Jahng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4