title: Associations Between ApoEε4 Carrier Status and Serum BDNF Levels--New Insights into the Molecular Mechanism of ApoEε4 Actions in Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: Insufficient neurotrophic support increases the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mounting evidence has confirmed the association of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) with AD. As both BDNF and ApoE are suggested to be involved in modulating brain integrity, the present study is aiming to investigate the associations between these two factors. In this study, 110 AD patients and 120 cognitively normal controls (NC) were recruited for measurement of serum BDNF levels and ApoE genotyping. Serum BDNF levels in the AD group were significantly lower than that in the NC group, reflecting insufficient neurotrophic supply in AD patients. We further found that ApoE ε4+/- and ε4+/+ subjects had significantly lower serum BDNF levels than ε4-/- subjects in the whole cohort and the NC group, suggesting altered BDNF metabolism in ApoE ε4 carriers. Further analysis indicated possible interactions between ApoEε4 and BDNF in their co-effects on AD and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores. Our findings imply that the possible involvement of ApoE ε4 in BDNF metabolism might be another molecular mechanism underlying the contribution of ApoE ε4 to the development of AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Centre for Clinical Neuroscience, Daping Hospital and Institute of Field Surgery, Third Military Medical University, 10 Changjiang Branch Road, Yuzhong district, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shu-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Ye-Ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xian-Le
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Xiu-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xin-Fu
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hua-Dong
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yan-Jiang
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human