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Hippocampal Volume Differences Between Healthy Young Apolipoprotein E ε2 and ε4 Carriers

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Alexopoulos, Panagiotisa; b; * | Richter-Schmidinger, Tanjaa | Horn, Marcoa | Maus, Sebastiana | Reichel, Martina | Sidiropoulos, Christosa; c | Rhein, Cosimaa | Lewczuk, Piotra | Doerfler, Arndd | Kornhuber, Johannesa

Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany | [b] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Munich, Germany | [c] Department of Neurology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA | [d] Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Dr. med. P. Alexopoulos, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675 Munich, Germany. Tel.: +49 894 140 4279; Fax: +49 894 140 4923; E-mail: panos.alexopoulos@lrz.tu-muenchen.de.

Keywords: apolipoprotein E, hippocampal volume, memory function, young healthy individuals

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2011-110356

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 207-210, 2011

Accepted 9 April 2011
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Published: 9 September 2011
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Abstract

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is the major genetic risk factor for the development of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas the presence of the APOE ε2 allele seems to confer protection. Here, we report that healthy young APOE ε4 carriers have statistically significantly smaller hippocampal volumes than APOE ε2 carriers, while no differences were detected between the two groups in memory performance. The difference in hippocampal morphology is cognitively/clinically silent in young adulthood, but could render APOE ε4 carriers more prone to the later development of AD possibly due to lower reserve cognitive capacity.

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