Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects

The apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) ε4 allele has a strong and manifold impact on cognition and neuroimaging phenotypes in cognitively normal subjects, including alterations in the white matter (WM) microstructure. Such alterations have often been regarded as a reflection of potential thinning of the m...

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Autores: Operto, Grégory; Molinuevo, José Luis; Cacciaglia, Raffaele; Falcón, Carles; Brugulat Serrat, Anna; Suárez Calvet, Marc; Grau Rivera, Oriol; Bargalló Alabart, Núria; Moran, Sebastian; Esteller, Manel, 1968-; Gispert, Juan Domingo
Tipo de documento: Artículo
Estado:Published version
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/162049
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/162049
Nivel de acceso:Acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Gens
Cognició
Malalties neurodegeneratives
Lípids
Mielina
Genes
Cognition
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Lipids
Myelin sheath
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author Operto, Grégory
author2 Molinuevo, José Luis
Cacciaglia, Raffaele
Falcón, Carles
Brugulat Serrat, Anna
Suárez Calvet, Marc
Grau Rivera, Oriol
Bargalló Alabart, Núria
Moran, Sebastian
Esteller, Manel, 1968-
Gispert, Juan Domingo
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author_browse Bargalló Alabart, Núria
Brugulat Serrat, Anna
Cacciaglia, Raffaele
Esteller, Manel, 1968-
Falcón, Carles
Gispert, Juan Domingo
Grau Rivera, Oriol
Molinuevo, José Luis
Moran, Sebastian
Operto, Grégory
Suárez Calvet, Marc
author_facet Operto, Grégory
Molinuevo, José Luis
Cacciaglia, Raffaele
Falcón, Carles
Brugulat Serrat, Anna
Suárez Calvet, Marc
Grau Rivera, Oriol
Bargalló Alabart, Núria
Moran, Sebastian
Esteller, Manel, 1968-
Gispert, Juan Domingo
author_role author
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
description The apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) ε4 allele has a strong and manifold impact on cognition and neuroimaging phenotypes in cognitively normal subjects, including alterations in the white matter (WM) microstructure. Such alterations have often been regarded as a reflection of potential thinning of the myelin sheath along axons, rather than pure axonal degeneration. Considering the main role of APOE in brain lipid transport, characterizing the impact of APOE on the myelin coating is therefore of crucial interest, especially in healthy APOE-ε4 homozygous individuals, who are exposed to a twelve-fold higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to the rest of the population. We examined T1w/T2w ratio maps in 515 cognitively healthy middle-aged participants from the ALFA study (ALzheimer and FAmilies) cohort, a single-site population-based study enriched for AD risk (68 APOE-ε4 homozygotes, 197 heterozygotes, and 250 non-carriers). Using tract-based spatial statistics, we assessed the impact of age and APOE genotype on this ratio taken as an indirect descriptor of myelin content. Healthy APOE-ε4 carriers display decreased T1w/T2w ratios in extensive regions in a dose-dependent manner. These differences were found to interact with age, suggesting faster changes in individuals with more ε4 alleles. These results obtained with T1w/T2w ratios, confirm the increased vulnerability of WM tracts in APOE-ε4 healthy carriers. Early alterations of myelin content could be the result of the impaired function of the ε4 isoform of the APOE protein in cholesterol transport. These findings help to clarify the possible interactions between the APOE-dependent non-pathological burden and age-related changes potentially at the source of the AD pathological cascade.
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institution Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
oai_identifier_str oai:recercat.cat:2445/162049
publishDate 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
spelling Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects Operto, Grégory Molinuevo, José Luis Cacciaglia, Raffaele Falcón, Carles Brugulat Serrat, Anna Suárez Calvet, Marc Grau Rivera, Oriol Bargalló Alabart, Núria Moran, Sebastian Esteller, Manel, 1968- Gispert, Juan Domingo Gens Cognició Malalties neurodegeneratives Lípids Mielina Genes Cognition Neurodegenerative Diseases Lipids Myelin sheath The apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) ε4 allele has a strong and manifold impact on cognition and neuroimaging phenotypes in cognitively normal subjects, including alterations in the white matter (WM) microstructure. Such alterations have often been regarded as a reflection of potential thinning of the myelin sheath along axons, rather than pure axonal degeneration. Considering the main role of APOE in brain lipid transport, characterizing the impact of APOE on the myelin coating is therefore of crucial interest, especially in healthy APOE-ε4 homozygous individuals, who are exposed to a twelve-fold higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to the rest of the population. We examined T1w/T2w ratio maps in 515 cognitively healthy middle-aged participants from the ALFA study (ALzheimer and FAmilies) cohort, a single-site population-based study enriched for AD risk (68 APOE-ε4 homozygotes, 197 heterozygotes, and 250 non-carriers). Using tract-based spatial statistics, we assessed the impact of age and APOE genotype on this ratio taken as an indirect descriptor of myelin content. Healthy APOE-ε4 carriers display decreased T1w/T2w ratios in extensive regions in a dose-dependent manner. These differences were found to interact with age, suggesting faster changes in individuals with more ε4 alleles. These results obtained with T1w/T2w ratios, confirm the increased vulnerability of WM tracts in APOE-ε4 healthy carriers. Early alterations of myelin content could be the result of the impaired function of the ε4 isoform of the APOE protein in cholesterol transport. These findings help to clarify the possible interactions between the APOE-dependent non-pathological burden and age-related changes potentially at the source of the AD pathological cascade. Elsevier https://hdl.handle.net/2445/162049
spellingShingle Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
Operto, Grégory
Gens
Cognició
Malalties neurodegeneratives
Lípids
Mielina
Genes
Cognition
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Lipids
Myelin sheath
status_str publishedVersion
title Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
title_full Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
title_fullStr Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
title_full_unstemmed Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
title_short Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
title_sort Interactive effect of age and APOE-ε4 allele load on white matter myelin content in cognitively normal middle-aged subjects
topic Gens
Cognició
Malalties neurodegeneratives
Lípids
Mielina
Genes
Cognition
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Lipids
Myelin sheath
topic_facet Gens
Cognició
Malalties neurodegeneratives
Lípids
Mielina
Genes
Cognition
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Lipids
Myelin sheath
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/162049