The association between APOE ε4 and Alzheimer-type dementia among memory clinic patients is confined to those with a higher education. The DESCRIPA Study

• Published in: Journal of Alzheimer's disease Vol. 35; no. 2; p. 241
• Main Authors: Vermeiren, Angelique P A, Bosma, Hans, Visser, Pieter-Jelle, Zeegers, Maurice P, Graff, Caroline, Ewers, Michael, Frisoni, Giovanni B, Frölich, Lutz, Hampel, Harald, Jones, Roy W, Kehoe, Patrick G, Lenoir, Hermine, Minthon, Lennart, Nobili, Flavio M, Olde Rikkert, Marcel, Rigaud, Anne-Sophie, Scheltens, Philip, Soininen, Hilkka, Spiru, Luiza, Tsolaki, Magda, Wahlund, Lars-Olof, Vellas, Bruno, Wilcock, Gordon, Elias-Sonnenschein, Lyzel S, Verhey, Frans R J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 2013
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - epidemiology; Alzheimer Disease - genetics; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Apolipoprotein E4 - genetics; Cohort Studies; DNA - genetics; Educational Status; Female; Gene-Environment Interaction; Genotype; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Memory Disorders - epidemiology; Memory Disorders - genetics; Memory Disorders - psychology; Middle Aged; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Sex Factors; Survival Analysis
• ISSN: 1875-8908
• DOI: 10.3233/JAD-122182

We assessed the interaction between the APOE ε4 allele and education level in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) among memory clinic patients from the multicenter DESCRIPA study. Subjects (n = 544) were followed for 1 to 5 years. We used Cox's stratified survival modeling, adjusted for age, gender, and center. APOE ε4 predicted the onset of AD-type dementia in middle (HR 3.45 95% CI 1.79-6.65, n = 222) and high (HR 3.67 95% CI 1.36-9.89, n = 139) but not in low educated subjects (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.38-1.72, n = 183). This suggests that mechanisms in developing Alzheimer-type dementia may differ between educational groups that raises questions related to Alzheimer-type dementia prevention.