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Two Alzheimer's disease risk genes increase entorhinal cortex volume in young adults.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk genes alter brain structure and function decades before disease onset. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest known genetic risk factor for AD, and a related gene, apolipoprotein J (APOJ), also affects disease risk. However, the extent to which these genes affect brain structure in young adults remains unclear. Here, we report that AD risk alleles of these two genes, APOE-?4 and APOJ-C, cumulatively alter brain volume in young adults. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in 57 individuals, we examined the entorhinal cortex, one of the earliest brain regions affected in AD pathogenesis. Apolipoprotein E-?4 carriers exhibited higher right entorhinal cortex volume compared to non-carriers. Interestingly, APOJ-C risk genotype was associated with higher bilateral entorhinal cortex volume in non-APOE-?4 carriers. To determine the combined disease risk of APOE and APOJ status per subject, we used cumulative odds ratios as regressors for volumetric measurements. Higher disease risk corresponded to greater right entorhinal cortex volume. These results suggest that, years before disease onset, two key AD genetic risk factors may exert influence on the structure of a brain region where AD pathogenesis takes root.

SUBMITTER: DiBattista AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4186290 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Two Alzheimer's disease risk genes increase entorhinal cortex volume in young adults.

DiBattista Amanda Marie AM Stevens Benson W BW Rebeck G William GW Green Adam E AE

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20141006

Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk genes alter brain structure and function decades before disease onset. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest known genetic risk factor for AD, and a related gene, apolipoprotein J (APOJ), also affects disease risk. However, the extent to which these genes affect brain structure in young adults remains unclear. Here, we report that AD risk alleles of these two genes, APOE-ε4 and APOJ-C, cumulatively alter brain volume in young adults. Using voxel-based morphometry ...[more]

PMID: 25339884

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Project description:ObjectiveUsing MRI surface morphometry mapping, to evaluate local deformations of the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and entorhinal cortex in predicting conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD).MethodsBaseline brain MRI with surface morphological analysis was performed in 130 outpatients with MCI, broadly defined, and 61 healthy controls followed for an average of 4 years in a single site study.ResultsPatients with MCI differed from controls in several regions of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, and to a lesser extent in the parahippocampal gyrus. In the MCI sample, Cox regression models were conducted for time to conversion comparing converters to AD (n=31) and non-converters (n=99), controlling for age, sex and education. Converters showed greater atrophy in the head of the hippocampus, predominantly in the CA1 region and subiculum, and in the entorhinal cortex, especially in the anterior-inferior pole bilaterally. When distances of specific points representing localized inward deformation were entered together with the corresponding hippocampal or entorhinal cortex volume in the same Cox regression model, the distances remained highly significant whereas the volumes of the corresponding structures were either marginally significant or not significant. Inclusion of cognitive or memory measures or apolipoprotein E ?4 genotype as covariates, or restricting the sample to patients with amnestic MCI (24 converters and 81 non-converters) did not materially change the findings. In the 3-year follow-up sample of patients with MCI, logistic regression analyses using the same measures and covariates yielded similar results.InterpretationThese findings indicate selective early involvement of the CA1 and subiculum regions of the hippocampus and provide new information on early anterior pole involvement in the entorhinal cortex in incipient AD. Fine-grained surface morphometry of medial temporal lobe structures may be superior to volumetric assessment in predicting conversion to AD in patients clinically diagnosed with MCI.

Dataset Information

Two Alzheimer's disease risk genes increase entorhinal cortex volume in young adults.

Publications

Two Alzheimer's disease risk genes increase entorhinal cortex volume in young adults.

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