title: Apathy and APOE4 are associated with reduced BDNF levels in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling is considered as a pathogenic event in early Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the influence of apathy and apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4) on serum BDNF values was not previously investigated in AD. We evaluated serum BDNF levels in AD, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and control subjects. Baseline BDNF levels were similar in AD, MCI, and controls. AD patients having apathy showed lower BDNF values than patients without apathy (p < 0.05). After correction for the influence of apathy, APOE4 carriers showed lower BDNF levels (p < 0.01) and MMSE scores (p < 0.01) than non-APOE4 carriers in the subgroup of AD females, but not in males. Significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between BDNF values and MMSE scores were only observed in subgroups of AD males and of AD patients without apathy. These results are showing the association of apathy and APOE4 with reduced serum BDNF levels in AD, and are suggesting that BDNF reductions might contribute to the worse cognitive performance exhibited by AD apathetic patients and female APOE4 carriers.
authors.affiliation: Medinova Institute of Neurosciences, Clínica RehaSalud, A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Antón
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Granada University, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aleixandre
authors.affiliation: Complejo Asistencial HHSCJ, Málaga, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linares
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurosciences and Pathology, University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Eliezer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Masliah
authors.affiliation: Ever NeuroPharma, Unterach, Austria.
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moessler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D057565:Apathy / Q000502:physiology*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; apathy; apolipoprotein E ε4 allele; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; elderly control subjects; mild cognitive impairment; serum