Correlations Between Cerebellar and Brain Volumes, Cognitive Impairments, ApoE Levels, and APOE Genotypes in Patients with AD and MCI

Title:Correlations Between Cerebellar and Brain Volumes, Cognitive Impairments, ApoE Levels, and APOE Genotypes in Patients with AD and MCI

Volume: 10 Issue: 9

Author(s): Wanda Lojkowska, Grzegorz Witkowski, Malgorzata Bednarska-Makaruk, Hanna Wehr, Halina Sienkiewicz-Jarosz, Alla Graban, Anna Bochynska, Anna Wisniewska, Magdalena Gugala, Ksenia Slawinska, Beata Sawicka, Renata Poniatowska and Danuta Ryglewicz

Affiliation:

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, cerebellum, brain volume, APOE genotype, apolipoprotein E.

Abstract: Due to the increasing incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), many studies have aimed to improve its diagnosis. Particular attention has been focused on measuring volumes of brain structures. Only few studies have investigatedwhether the cerebellar volume changes with the stage of dementia. It is controversial whether the serum apolipoprotein E (ApoE) level is an appropriate AD marker. This study was designed to clarify the significance of both cerebellar volume measurements and ApoE level measurements as markers of neurodegenerative changes.

This study included 55 subjects with AD, 30 subjects with mild cognitive impairments (MCI), and a control group with 30 subjects. We measured the brain, cerebellum, and brain stem volumes with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We determined serum ApoE levels, APOE genotypes, and neuropsychological test scores.

In the control group, we found that ApoE levels were significantly higher for subjects with the APOE 2/3 genotype than those with the 4/4 genotype. This finding may indicate that ApoE plays a protective role against AD development in subjects with the APOE 2/3 genotype. ApoE levels were not significantly different in patients with AD and MCI. No correlations were found between serum ApoE levels and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores or the volumes of brain structures.

This study could not confirm the appropriateness of the cerebellum volume as an early AD marker. Correlations were found between cerebellar volume, brain volume, and the MMSE scores.

Cite this article as:

Lojkowska Wanda, Witkowski Grzegorz, Bednarska-Makaruk Malgorzata, Wehr Hanna, Sienkiewicz-Jarosz Halina, Graban Alla, Bochynska Anna, Wisniewska Anna, Gugala Magdalena, Slawinska Ksenia, Sawicka Beata, Poniatowska Renata and Ryglewicz Danuta, Correlations Between Cerebellar and Brain Volumes, Cognitive Impairments, ApoE Levels, and APOE Genotypes in Patients with AD and MCI, Current Alzheimer Research 2013; 10 (9) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/15672050113106660161