From the cover: cerebral metabolic and cognitive decline in
persons at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease [In Process Citation]
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA
2000 May;97(11):6037-6042.
Author: Small GW, Ercoli LM, Silverman DH, Huang S, Komo S, Bookheimer
SY, Lavretsky H, Miller K, Siddarth P, Rasgon NL, Mazziotta JC, Saxena S, Wu HM, Mega MS, Cummings JL, Saunders AM, Pericak-Vance MA, Roses AD, Barrio JR, Phelps ME. PubMed ID: 10811879
Abstract:
The major known genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD),
apolipoprotein E-4 (APOE-4), is associated with lowered parietal,
temporal, and posterior cingulate cerebral glucose metabolism in
patients with a clinical diagnosis of AD. To determine cognitive and
metabolic decline patterns according to genetic risk, we investigated
cerebral metabolic rates by using positron emission tomography in
middle-aged and older nondemented persons with normal memory
performance. A single copy of the APOE-4 allele was associated with
lowered inferior parietal, lateral temporal, and posterior cingulate
metabolism, which predicted cognitive decline after 2 years of
longitudinal follow-up. For the 20 nondemented subjects followed
longitudinally, memory performance scores did not decline significantly,
but cortical metabolic rates did. In APOE-4 carriers, a 4% left
posterior cingulate metabolic decline was observed, and inferior
parietal and lateral temporal regions demonstrated the greatest
magnitude (5%) of metabolic decline after 2 years. These results
indicate that the combination of cerebral metabolic rates and genetic
risk factors provides a means for preclinical AD detection that will
assist in response monitoring during experimental treatments