Obesity reduces hippocampal structure and function in older African Americans with the APOE-ε4 Alzheimer's disease risk allele.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Excess body weight and Alzheimer's disease (AD) disproportionately affect older African Americans. While mid-life obesity increases risk for AD, few data exist on the relationship between late-life obesity and AD, or how obesity-based and genetic risk for AD interact. Although the APOE-ε4 allele confers a strong genetic risk for AD, it is unclear if late-life obesity poses a greater risk for APOE-ε4 carriers compared to non-carriers. Here we assessed: (1) the influence of body mass index (BMI) (normal; overweight; class 1 obese; ≥ class 2 obese) on cognitive and structural MRI measures of AD risk; and (2) the interaction between BMI and APOE-ε4 in older African Americans.

Methods

Seventy cognitively normal older African American participants (M_age

SUBMITTER: Osiecka Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10507275 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature