The analysis of cardiovascular risk factors showed that the risk of cognitive decline was highest in subjects with both APOE*4 and a high cholesterol level, high fibrinogen level, normal blood pressure, or diabetes mellitus.
These observations suggest that the rate of cognitive decline increases with age and that APOE and other familial/genetic factors influence the onset age throughout life.
Although the APOE epsilon 4 allele is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, there is no support of a strong association between APOE epsilon 4 dosage and rate of cognitive decline.
Our findings suggest that the consequences of APOE epsilon 4 and atherosclerosis are not independent, and that particularly APOE epsilon 4 carriers with atherosclerosis are at increased risk of cognitive decline.
Given the strong association of the apolipoprotein E (apoE) allele epsilon 4 (epsilon 4) with Alzheimer's disease or cognitive decline in elderly, we tested whether cognitive performance in schizophrenic subjects is associated with an increase in the frequency of the ApoE epsilon 4 allele.
Thus, the purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine very early changes in olfactory functioning due to AD and (2) to examine the role of ApoE in olfactory functioning in people at risk for AD by virtue of early cognitive decline.
To examine the association between subclinical CVD and decline in cognitive functioning in the elderly and to examine effect modification by the APOE genotype of the association between subclinical disease and cognitive decline.
A single copy of the APOE-4 allele was associated with lowered inferior parietal, lateral temporal, and posterior cingulate metabolism, which predicted cognitive decline after 2 years of longitudinal follow-up.
The lack of association between APOE epsilon 4 carrier status and mortality, or development of dementia, or cognitive decline in these very elderly people, whether analyzed in the whole population or among the nondemented subjects only, suggests that the APOE epsilon 4 effect in younger subjects is age-dependent, and that it is no longer present in very old age.
Recently, Tardiff and colleagues have suggested that the presence of the apolipoprotein E, epsilon4 allele was associated with increased likelihood of cognitive decline after coronary artery bypass grafting.