title: Gene-Environment Interplay in Physical, Psychological, and Cognitive Domains in Mid to Late Adulthood: Is APOE a Variability Gene?
abstract: Despite emerging interest in gene-environment interaction (GxE) effects, there is a dearth of studies evaluating its potential relevance apart from specific hypothesized environments and biometrical variance trends. Using a monozygotic within-pair approach, we evaluated evidence of G×E for body mass index (BMI), depressive symptoms, and cognition (verbal, spatial, attention, working memory, perceptual speed) in twin studies from four countries. We also evaluated whether APOE is a 'variability gene' across these measures and whether it partly represents the 'G' in G×E effects. In all three domains, G×E effects were pervasive across country and gender, with small-to-moderate effects. Age-cohort trends were generally stable for BMI and depressive symptoms; however, they were variable-with both increasing and decreasing age-cohort trends-for different cognitive measures. Results also suggested that APOE may represent a 'variability gene' for depressive symptoms and spatial reasoning, but not for BMI or other cognitive measures. Hence, additional genes are salient beyond APOE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA, 92521, USA. chandra.reynolds@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Chandra A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.|Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gatz
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bio-demography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000, Odense C, Denmark.|Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bio-demography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000, Odense C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.|Institute of Gerontology, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dahl Aslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health & Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaprio
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.|Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, 70211, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Tellervo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Korhonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kremen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bio-demography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000, Odense C, Denmark.|Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McGue
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jenae M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Neiderhiser
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.|Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Pedersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E
keywords: APOE; BMI; Cognitive performance; Depression; Gene–environment interaction; Twins; Variability gene