The apolipoprotein E gene ε4 allele is considered a negative factor for neural regeneration in late-onset Alzheimer's disease cases. The aim of this study was to establish a non-invasive, rapid method to genotype apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms. Genomic DNA from mouth swab specimens was extracted using magnetic nanoparticles, and genotyping was performed by real-time PCR using TaqMan-BHQ pr...

Telomere length shortens with cellular division, and leukocyte telomere length is used as a marker for systemic telomere length. The hippocampus hosts adult neurogenesis and is an important structure for episodic memory, and carriers of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele exhibit higher hippocampal atrophy rates and differing telomere dynamics compared with non-carriers. The authors investigated whe...

The apolipoprotein E (ApOE) ε4 allele is associated with neuropathological buildup of amyloid in the brain, and with lower performance on some laboratory measures of memory in some populations. In two studies, we tested whether ApOE genotype affects memory for everyday activities. In Study 1, participants aged 20-79 years old (n = 188) watched movies of actors engaged in daily activities and co...

Both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are a class of neurodegenerative diseases associated with the pathologic aggregation of tau protein in the human brain. They share some clinical and pathologic characteristics. A recent genome-wide association study reported several single-nucleotide polymorphisms at the STX6, MOBP, MAPT, and EIF2AK3 in association with PSP....

Inflammation is becoming increasingly recognized as an important contributor to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. As a part of the innate immune system, the complement cascade enhances the body's ability to destroy and remove pathogens and has recently been shown to influence Alzheimer's associated amyloid and tau pathology. However, little is known in humans about the effects of the compl...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. An important goal for current AD research is to find preclinical markers of impending disease. Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) is the chief known genetic risk factor for AD. A number of neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional brain alterations in non-demented APOE ε4-carriers. Such results have tentatively been int...

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide and is associated with individual, familial and social burdens. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) may have a prominent role in AD pathophysiology by affecting the metabolism of catecholamine neurotransmitters and estrogen. Although the COMT rs4680 gene polymorphism has been investigated as a susceptibility factor f...

In a recent genome-wide association study, the SLC26A4 gene rs2072064 polymorphism was found to be associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease in Caucasians. Here, we investigated this association in a large Northern Han Chinese cohort consisting of 599 sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease patients and 598 healthy controls matched for sex and age in a Northern Han Chinese population from ...

BACKGROUND Intravenous and inhalation anesthesia are commonly used in the clinical setting. Recovery of cognitive function in elderly patients after surgery has received increased attention. In this study, the authors compared recovery of cognitive function in patients after different anesthesia techniques, and investigated which technique is safer. The authors also explored association between...

BACKGROUND The CYP19A1 enzyme (aromatase) encoded by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 19A1 gene influences the final step in the biosynthesis of estrogen, which has been associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). It is possible that genetic polymorphisms in CYP19A1 could influence the risk of AD by altering the expression of CYP19A1. The ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is the most si...