Effect of APOE4 Allele and Gender on the Rate of Atrophy in the Hippocampus, Entorhinal Cortex, and Fusiform Gyrus in Alzheimer's Disease

Eid Abo Hamza; Ahmed A Moustafa; Richard Tindle; Rasu Karki; Shahed Nalla; Mohamed S Hamid; Mohamad El Haj

doi:10.2174/1567205020666230309113749

Effect of APOE4 Allele and Gender on the Rate of Atrophy in the Hippocampus, Entorhinal Cortex, and Fusiform Gyrus in Alzheimer's Disease

Curr Alzheimer Res. 2023 Mar 9. doi: 10.2174/1567205020666230309113749. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Eid Abo Hamza^{1

2}, Ahmed A Moustafa^{3

4}, Richard Tindle⁵, Rasu Karki⁶, Shahed Nalla⁴, Mohamed S Hamid⁷, Mohamad El Haj^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Education, Department of Mental Health, Tanta University, Egypt
² College of Education, Humanities & Social Sciences, Al Ain University, UAE.
³ School of Psychology, Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, 2214, Australia.
⁷ College of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (LPPL - EA 4638), Nantes Université, Univ. Angers., Nantes, F-44000, France
⁹ Clinical Gerontology Department, CHU Nantes, Bd Jacques Monod,Nantes, F44093, France.
¹⁰ Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.

PMID: 36892120
DOI: 10.2174/1567205020666230309113749

Abstract

Background: The hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and fusiform gyrus are brain areas that deteriorate during early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). The ApoE4 allele has been identified as a risk factor for AD development, is linked to an increase in the aggregation of amyloid ß (Aß) plaques in the brain, and is responsible for atrophy of the hippocampal area. However, to our knowledge, the rate of deterioration over time in individuals with AD, with or without the ApoE4 allele, has not been investigated.

Method: In this study, we, for the first time, analyze atrophy in these brain structures in AD patients with and without the ApoE4 using the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset.

Results: It was found that the rate of decrease in the volume of these brain areas over 12 months was related to the presence of ApoE4. Further, we found that neural atrophy was not different for female and male patients, unlike prior studies, suggesting that the presence of ApoE4 is not linked to the gender difference in AD.

Conclusion: Our results confirm and extend previous findings, showing that the ApoE4 allele gradually impacts brain regions impacted by AD.

Keywords: APOE gene; Alzheimer’s disease; disease progression; entorhinal cortex; fusiform gyrus; gender difference; hippocampus.