PLASMA AMYLIN LEVELS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN STRUCTURE AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH TYPE-2 DIABETES

Abstract

the development of cognitive decline in the prevention of AD, this information may provide insight into the early development of disease. This study examines the role of apoE4 in ten-year cognitive change using a simple test of episodic memory. Methods: Participants were 162 women (aged 64-77 years) from the longitudinal prospective Women’s Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP). The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was used as a measure of episodic memory and administered in 2002 and 2012. Delayed recall of the CVLT word list was measured 25-30 minutes after the initial learning phase. Blood samples were collected for genetic analysis to determine the inheritance of the apoE4 allele. Age and education were included in the analysis as possible predictors of CVLT performance. Results: Of the 162 participants in the sample, 52 were found to possess the apoE4 allele. Participants lacking the apoE4 allele showed greater increase in CVLT delayed recall scores over 10 years (mean difference 1⁄4 2.96) than those with the apoE4 allele (mean difference 1⁄4 1.46), taking age and education into account, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: Inheritance of the apoE4 allele predicted differences in episodic memory change over ten years in our epidemiologically-sourced cohort. This result suggests that the influence of apoE4 can be observed before the onset of disease in healthy individuals. This study highlights the need for further work to determine a full cognitive profile for healthy individuals with a positive apoE4 status.