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Original Research
Regional atrophy of transcallosal prefrontal connections in cognitively normal APOE ϵ4 carriers
Article first published online: 22 APR 2009
DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21757
Copyright © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Filippini, N., Zarei, M., Beckmann, C. F., Galluzzi, S., Borsci, G., Testa, C., Bonetti, M., Beltramello, A., Ghidoni, R., Benussi, L., Binetti, G. and Frisoni, G. B. (2009), Regional atrophy of transcallosal prefrontal connections in cognitively normal APOE ϵ4 carriers. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging, 29: 1021–1026. doi: 10.1002/jmri.21757
Publication History
- Issue published online: 22 APR 2009
- Article first published online: 22 APR 2009
- Manuscript Accepted: 9 FEB 2009
- Manuscript Received: 31 OCT 2008
Funded by
- Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Finalizzata ‘Archivio normativo italiano di morfometria cerebrale con risonanza magnetica’. Grant Numbers: RF 00.343, 2005/agreement number PS-NEURO ex56/05/4
- Italian Ministry of Health
- UK Department of Health
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- APOE;
- corpus callosum;
- white matter;
- neuroimaging;
- MRI
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the possible effect of the APOE ϵ4 allele on age-related regional volume loss within the corpus callosum (CC) in healthy ϵ4 allele carriers compared with noncarriers.
Materials and Methods
A total of 211 subjects, ages 27 to 83 years, 51 ϵ4 carriers and 160 noncarriers underwent T1-weighted MRI scan. All subjects had normal MRI scan and performed within normal range on a neuropsychological battery of tests. CC was segmented into seven functionally relevant regions using a previously published probabilistic map of the CC connectivity. We measured the volumes of the CC and its subregions. We used a regression model (with volumes as dependent and age as independent variables) and compared the slopes between carriers and noncarriers using an analysis of covariance model. We also carried out voxel-based-morphometry analysis to investigate the possible effect of the APOE ϵ4 gene on the gray matter.
Results
We found that the volume of the CC and all subregions decreased with increasing age in both groups. The slope was steeper in the APOE ϵ4 carriers compared withthe noncarriers particularly in the prefrontal region (P = 0.02). No gray matter differences were observed between the two groups.
Conclusion
APOE ϵ4 polymorphism is associated with accelerated age-related volume loss in the prefrontal callosal tracts without gray matter loss. This result suggests the role of APOE ϵ4 in the brain aging by primarily affecting white matter structures particularly in the frontal lobe. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:1021–1026. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.