title: The ε4 genotype of apolipoprotein E and white matter integrity in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this multicenter study, we investigated a possible association between the APOE ε4 allele and white matter (WM) integrity in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) as indices of WM integrity in 70 AD patients (35 APOE ε4 carriers, 35 noncarriers) and 56 healthy control (HC) subjects (28 APOE ε4 carriers, 28 noncarriers). APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers were matched for age and gender within each diagnostic group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significant effects of diagnosis (Pcorrected < .05 [FWE]; i.e., smaller FA values and larger MD values in AD patients compared with HCs) and significant effects (P < .001) of APOE ε4 carrier status on MD in HCs but not in AD subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that APOE ε4 has a moderate effect on WM integrity in HCs, but no effect on WM integrity in manifest AD.
authors.affiliation: DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock, Germany. Electronic address: vanja.kljajevic@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vanja
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kljajevic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Genetics, University Medicine, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Genetics, University Medicine, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holzmann
authors.affiliation: DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock, Germany; Mobile Multimedia Information Systems Group, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dyrba
authors.affiliation: DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Systems Group, Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Arun L W
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bokde
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fellgiebel
authors.affiliation: Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meindl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hampel
authors.affiliation: DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teipel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D016880:Anisotropy; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4
keywords: APOE ε4; Alzheimer's disease; Diffusion tensor imaging; White matter