Sex modifies the APOE-related risk of developing Alzheimer disease.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The APOE4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD). Case-control studies suggest the APOE4 link to AD is stronger in women. We examined the APOE4-by-sex interaction in conversion risk (from healthy aging to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/AD or from MCI to AD) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker levels.

Methods

Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) for an APOE-by-sex interaction on conversion in controls (n = 5,496) and MCI patients (n = 2,588). The interaction was also tested in CSF biomarker levels of 980 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.

Results

Among controls, male and female carriers were more likely to convert to MCI/AD, but the effect was strong

SUBMITTER: Altmann A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4117990 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature