Abstract

The APOE ɛ4 allele is associated with a risk of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly, with the association being pronounced in females. Conversely, findings of the effects of the APOE ɛ4 allele in young adults are mixed. Here, we investigated the sex–genotype interaction effects of the APOE ɛ4 allele on cognitive functions as well as brain structures among 1258 young adults. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, there were significant effects of the interaction between sex and the number of APOE ɛ4 allele on some speed tasks (e.g., simple processing speed tasks and the reverse Stroop task) as well as on regional white matter volume (rWMV). The observed sex–genotype interaction conferred better cognitive performance and greater rWMV in the anterior frontal and precentral white matter areas in females having more APOE ɛ4 alleles and reduced rWMV in the same areas in male having more APOE ɛ4 alleles. These findings support the long-debated antagonistic pleiotropic effects of the APOE ɛ4 allele in females.

中文翻译：

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APOE ɛ4 等位基因对年轻人行为特征和白质结构的性别依赖性影响。

摘要

APOE ɛ4 等位基因与老年人患阿尔茨海默病的风险有关，这种关联在女性中很明显。相反，APOE ɛ4 等位基因对年轻人的影响的研究结果好坏参半。在这里，我们调查了APOE ɛ4 等位基因对 1258 名年轻人的认知功能和大脑结构的性别-基因型相互作用影响。调整多重比较后，性别与APOE数量的交互作用有显着影响ɛ4 等位基因在一些速度任务（例如，简单的处理速度任务和反向 Stroop 任务）以及区域白质体积（rWMV）上。观察到的性别 - 基因型相互作用在具有更多APOE ɛ4 等位基因的女性的前额叶和中央前白质区域赋予了更好的认知能力和更大的 rWMV，而在具有更多APOE ɛ4 等位基因的男性的相同区域中，rWMV 降低。这些发现支持了长期争论的APOE ɛ4 等位基因在女性中的拮抗多效性作用。