Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (Jan 2024)

Assessment of circulating apoE4 levels from dried blood spot samples in a large survey setting

  • Nis Borbye‐Lorenzen,
  • Yacila I. Deza‐Lougovski,
  • Solveig Holmgaard,
  • Luzia M. Weiss,
  • Marie Bækvad‐Hansen,
  • Kristin Skogstrand,
  • Anna Rieckmann,
  • Axel Börsch‐Supan,
  • Martina Börsch‐Supan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12555
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract INTRODUCTION The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is associated with high risk for Alzheimer's disease. It is unclear whether individual levels of the circulating apoE4 protein in ε4 carriers confer additional risk. Measuring apoE4 protein levels from dried blood spots (DBS) has the potential to provide information on genetic status as well as circulating levels and to include these measures in large survey settings. METHODS We developed a multiplex immunoassay to detect apoE4 protein levels in DBS from 15,974 participants, aged 50+ from Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). RESULTS The apoE4 protein signal was presented in two separable distributions. One distribution corresponded to carriers of at least one copy of the ε4 allele. Fieldwork cofounders affected protein levels but did not explain individual differences. DISCUSSION Future research should investigate how genotype and apoE4 level interact with lifestyle and other variables to impact cognitive aging.

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