Abstract
Background: Age-related brain changes are well-documented and influenced by genetics. Extensive research links apolipoprotein E (apoE) to brain function, with the E4 allele serving as a risk factor for brain disease, including Alzheimer's disease, and the E2 allele conferring protection. Recent evidence also supports protective effects of another gene, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1*13, on brain disease and age-related brain atrophy in cognitively healthy adults. Here we investigated the effects of apoE and HLA DRB1*13 on brain function by examining changes in neural network properties with age in healthy adults. Methods: One hundred seventy-eight cognitively healthy women (28–99 y old) underwent a magnetoencephalography scan and provided a blood sample for genetic analysis. Age-related changes in neural network variability in genetic subgroups of DRB1*13 × apoE genotype combinations were assessed using linear regression of network variability against age. Findings: For individuals lacking a DRB1*13 allele and/or carrying an apoE4 allele, network variability increased significantly with age. In contrast, no such increase was observed in the presence of DRB1*13 and/or apoE2. Interpretation: These findings extend previous research documenting the protective effect of DRB1*13 on brain structure to include protection against age-related changes in brain function, and demonstrate similar protective effects on neural network variability for either DRB1*13 or apoE2. These protective effects could be due to reduction or elimination of factors known to disrupt brain function, including neuroinflammation and amyloid beta protein. Funding: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and University of Minnesota.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 288-294 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | EBioMedicine |
Volume | 35 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Partial funding for this study was provided by the University of Minnesota (the Kunin Professorship for Women's Healthy Brain Aging, the Brain and Genomics Fund, the McKnight Presidential Chair of Cognitive Neuroscience, and the American Legion Brain Sciences Chair). The sponsors had no role in the current study design, analysis or interpretation, or in the writing of this paper. The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018
Keywords
- Apolipoprotein E
- DRB1*13
- Healthy brain aging
- Human leukocyte antigen
- Magnetoencephalography
- Neural network