Interaction of APOE4 alleles and PET tau imaging in former contact sport athletes

Publication date: 2020Source: NeuroImage: Clinical, Volume 26Author(s): Anna Vasilevskaya, Foad Taghdiri, Charles Burke, Apameh Tarazi, Seyed Ali Naeimi, Mozghan Khodadadi, Ruma Goswami, Christine Sato, Mark Grinberg, Danielle Moreno, Richard Wennberg, David Mikulis, Robin Green, Brenda Colella, Karen D. Davis, Pablo Rusjan, Sylvain Houle, Charles Tator, Ekaterina Rogaeva, Maria C. TartagliaAbstractBackgroundGenetic polymorphisms like apolipoprotein E (APOE) and microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) genes increase the risk of neurodegeneration.Methods38 former players (age 52.63±14.02) of contact sports underwent neuroimaging, biofluid collection, and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. The [F-18]AV-1451 tracer signal was compared in the cortical grey matter between APOE4 allele carriers and non-carriers as well as carriers of MAPT H1H1 vs non-H1H1. Participants were then divided into the high (N = 13) and low (N = 13) groups based on cortical PET tau standard uptake value ratios (SUVRs) for comparison.FindingsCortical grey matter PET tau SUVR values were significantly higher in APOE4 carriers compared to non-carriers (p = 0.020). In contrast, there was no significant difference in SUVR between MAPT H1H1 vs non-H1H1 carrier genes (p = 1.00). There was a significantly higher APOE4 allele frequency in the high cortical grey matter PET tau group, comparing to low cortical grey matter PET tau group (p = 0.048). No significant difference in neuropsychologic...
Source: NeuroImage: Clinical - Category: Radiology Source Type: research