Apolipoprotein E ε4 Status Modifies the Effects of Sex Hormones on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

作者：Xing, Yi; Qin, Wei; Li, Fang; Jia, Xiang-Fei; Jia, Jianping^*

来源：Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 2012, 33(1): 35-42.

DOI：10.1159/000336600

• Alzheimer's disease
• Neuropsychiatry
• Gonadal steroid hormones
• Apolipoprotein E epsilon 4

Background: Studies on the associations between sex hormones and multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are lacking. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon 4 status may modify the effects of sex hormones on neuropsychiatric symptoms. Methods: A total of 86 male and 87 female AD patients participated in the present study. The adjusted associations between symptoms on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and serum levels of estradiol (total, bioavailable) and testosterone (total, bioavailable) were analyzed. Results: Agitation/aggression was negatively associated with quartiles of bioavailable estradiol among male patients, and positively associated with testosterone levels among female patients. The modifying effects of APOE genotype only existed in female patients. Those females with higher levels of estradiol and the epsilon 4 allele had higher odds of agitation/aggression. Furthermore, the testosterone x APOE epsilon 4 status interaction was positively associated with hallucinations in female patients. Conclusion: There were sex-specific effects of sex hormones on agitation/aggression in AD. Sex hormones and APOE epsilon 4 status synergistically influence some neuropsychiatric symptoms among female but not male AD patients.

• 出版日期2012
• 单位首都医科大学