Cited by 76Down syndrome and intellectual disability researchDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchAlzheimer's disease research and treatments

Association of Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 Allele With Clinical and Multimodal Biomarker Changes of Alzheimer Disease in Adults With Down Syndrome

Open access
Bejanin, Alexandre, Iulita, Maria Florencia, Vilaplana, Eduard, Carmona-Iragui, Maria, Benejam, Bessy, Videla, Laura, Barroeta, Isabel, Fernandez, Susana +27 more·2021·JAMA Neurology

Abstract

Importance: Alzheimer disease (AD) is the leading cause of death in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Previous studies have suggested that the APOE ɛ4 allele plays a role in the risk and age at onset of dementia in DS; however, data on in vivo biomarkers remain scarce. Objective: To investigate the association of the APOE ɛ4 allele with clinical and multimodal biomarkers of AD in adults with DS. Design, Setting, and Participants: This dual-center cohort study recruited adults with DS in Barcelona, Spain, and in Cambridge, UK, between June 1, 2009, and February 28, 2020. Included individuals had been genotyped for APOE and had at least 1 clinical or AD biomarker measurement; 2 individuals were excluded because of the absence of trisomy 21. Participants were either APOE ɛ4 allele carriers or noncarriers. Main Outcomes and Measures: Participants underwent a neurological and neuropsychological assessment. A subset of participants had biomarker measurements: Aβ1-42, Aβ1-40, phosphorylated tau 181 (pTau181) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), pTau181, and NfL in plasma; amyloid positron emission tomography (PET); fluorine 18-labeled-fluorodeoxyglucose PET; and/or magnetic resonance imaging. Age at symptom onset was compared between APOE ɛ4 allele carriers and noncarriers, and within-group local regression models were used to compare the association of biomarkers with age. Voxelwise analyses were performed to assess topographical differences in gray matter metabolism and volume. Results: Of the 464 adults with DS included in the study, 97 (20.9%) were APOE ɛ4 allele carriers and 367 (79.1%) were noncarriers. No differences between the 2 groups were found by age (median [interquartile range], 45.9 [36.4-50.2] years vs 43.7 [34.9-50.2] years; P = .56) or sex (51 male carriers [52.6%] vs 199 male noncarriers [54.2%]). APOE ɛ4 allele carriers compared with noncarriers presented with AD symptoms at a younger age (mean [SD] age, 50.7 [4.4] years vs 52.7 [5.8] years; P = .02) and showed earlier cognitive decline. Locally estimated scatterplot smoothing curves further showed between-group differences in biomarker trajectories with age as reflected by nonoverlapping CIs. Specifically, carriers showed lower levels of the CSF Aβ1-42 to Aβ1-40 ratio until age 40 years, earlier increases in amyloid PET and plasma pTau181, and earlier loss of cortical metabolism and hippocampal volume. No differences were found in NfL biomarkers or CSF total tau and pTau181. Voxelwise analyses showed lower metabolism in subcortical and parieto-occipital structures and lower medial temporal volume in APOE ɛ4 allele carriers. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, the APOE ɛ4 allele was associated with earlier clinical and biomarker changes of AD in DS. These results provide insights into the mechanisms by which APOE increases the risk of AD, emphasizing the importance of APOE genotype for future clinical trials in DS.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.1893

Cites

50 of 50 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In DSAD, the effect of APOEε4 genotype on the age of onset of clinical features of disease and AD biomarkers is significant, but relatively modest compared with the effect of the genotype in LOAD, and may be limited to females.

    “Notably, recent work has indicated that in DSAD, the effect of APOEε4 genotype on the age of onset of clinical features of disease and AD biomarkers is significant, but relatively modest compared with the effect of the genotype in LOAD, and may be limited to females [5, 20, 32].”

    From Apolipoprotein E abundance is elevated in the brains of individuals with Down syndrome–Alzheimer’s disease (2025) · cites this paper as [5]

    The Results (Clinical and Neuropsychological Findings; page not available) report that APOE ε4 carriers with Down syndrome received a symptomatic AD diagnosis about two years earlier than noncarriers; the Discussion also reports earlier biomarker changes. The paper does not establish that this effect is smaller than in late-onset AD or that it may be limited to females. It reports a similar association with AD processes in the general population, but does not compare effect sizes or show a female-specific clinical effect. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • APOEε4 can accelerate age-related cognitive decline even in genetically determined Alzheimer disease, such as familial autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome, whereas APOEε2 can delay age of onset even in familial autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease.

    “Remarkably, APOEε4 can accelerate age-related cognitive decline even in genetically determined AD, such as familial autosomal dominant AD31 and Down syndrome82, whereas APOEε2 can delay age of onset even in familial autosomal dominant AD83.”

    From Multifaceted roles of APOE in Alzheimer disease (2024) · cites this paper as [82]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

4 of the 54 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [15]Esteba-Castillo S, Dalmau-Bueno A, Ribas-Vidal N, Vilà-Alsina M, Novell-Alsina R, García-Alba J. Adaptation and validation of CAMDEX-DS (Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of Older People with Down’s Syndrome and others with intellectual disabilities) in Spanish population with intellectual disabilities [in Spanish]. Rev Neurol. 2013; 57(8): 337- 346. 24081888

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bejanin, A., Iulita, M. F., Vilaplana, E., Carmona-Iragui, M., Benejam, B., Videla, L., Barroeta, I., Fernandez, S., Altuna, M., Pegueroles, J., Montal, V., Valldeneu, S., Giménez, S., González-Ortiz, S., Muñoz, L., Padilla, C., Aranha, M. R., Estellés, T., Illán-Gala, I., Belbin, O., Camacho, V., Wilson, L. R., Annus, T., Osorio, R. S., Videla, S., Lehmann, S., Holland, A. J., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Alcolea, D., Clarimon, J., Zaman, S. H., Blesa, R., Lleó, A., & Fortea, J.
Affiliations
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
  • Sant Pau Memory Unit, Department of Neurology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • Barcelona Down Medical Center, Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down, Barcelona, Spain
  • Hospital de Sant Pau (ES)
  • Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • NYU Langone Health (US)
  • Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge (ES)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SE)
  • National Health Service (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Bejanin, Alexandre
  • Fortea, Juan
Venue
JAMA Neurology
Published
2021-08-01
Volume
78
Issue
8
Pages
937
ISSN
2168-6149 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3179066206
Cited by
76
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 5
FWCI
9.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • JAMA Neurology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona (Universitat de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • European Commission (860197)
  • Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Down syndrome and intellectual disability research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome, APOE ε4, amyloid PET, FDG-PET, phosphorylated tau, neurofilament light chain, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, age at symptom onset, gray matter volume, neurodegeneration, dementia risk, adults with Down syndrome, multimodal biomarkers
MeSH terms
Adult, Alleles, Alzheimer Disease, Apolipoproteins E, Atrophy, Down Syndrome, Female, Glucose, Heterozygote, Hippocampus, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Peptide Fragments, Cohort Studies, Biomarkers, Amyloid beta-Peptides, tau Proteins, Apolipoprotein E4

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review