UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The association of APOE ε4 with cognitive function over the adult life course and incidence of dementia: 20 years follow-up of the Whitehall II study

Gharbi-Meliani, A; Dugravot, A; Sabia, S; Regy, M; Fayosse, A; Schnitzler, A; Kivimäki, M; ... Dumurgier, J; + view all (2021) The association of APOE ε4 with cognitive function over the adult life course and incidence of dementia: 20 years follow-up of the Whitehall II study. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy , 13 , Article 5. 10.1186/s13195-020-00740-0. Green open access

[thumbnail of s13195-020-00740-0.pdf]
Preview
Text
s13195-020-00740-0.pdf - Published Version

Download (991kB) | Preview

Abstract

Background: Approximately 25% of the general population carries at least one ε4 allele of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE ε4), the strongest genetic risk factor for late onset Alzheimer’s disease. Beyond its association with late-onset dementia, the association between APOE ε4 and change in cognition over the adult life course remains uncertain. This study aims to examine whether the association between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 zygosity and cognition function is modified between midlife and old age. Methods: A cohort study of 5561 participants (mean age 55.5 (SD = 5.9) years, 27.1% women) with APOE genotyping and repeated cognitive tests for reasoning, memory, and semantic and phonemic fluency, during a mean (SD) follow-up of 20.2 (2.8) years (the Whitehall II study). We used joint models to examine the association of APOE genotype with cognitive function trajectories between 45 and 85 years taking drop-out, dementia, and death into account and Fine and Gray models to examine associations with dementia. Results: Compared to non-carriers, heterozygote (prevalence 25%) and homozygote (prevalence 2%) APOE ε4 carriers had increased risk of dementia, sub-distribution hazard ratios 2.19 (95% CI 1.73, 2.77) and 5.97 (95% CI 3.85, 9.28) respectively. Using data spanning 45–85 years with non-ε4 carriers as the reference, ε4 homozygotes had poorer global cognitive score starting from 65 years; ε4 heterozygotes had better scores between 45 and 55 years, then no difference until poorer cognitive scores from 75 years onwards. In analysis of individual cognitive tests, better cognitive performance in the younger ε4 heterozygotes was primarily attributable to executive function. Conclusions: Both heterozygous and homozygous ε4 carriers had poorer cognition and greater risk of dementia at older ages. Our findings show some support for a complex antagonist pleiotropic effect of APOE ε4 heterozygosity over the adult life course, characterized by cognitive advantage in midlife.

Type: Article
Title: The association of APOE ε4 with cognitive function over the adult life course and incidence of dementia: 20 years follow-up of the Whitehall II study
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s13195-020-00740-0
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-020-00740-0
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Apolipoprotein E, Cognitive aging, Cohort study, Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10119304
Downloads since deposit
81Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item