View article

Objective: To investigate whether presence of the APOE ε4 allele is related to the pathologic progression of preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD), as reflected by change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores among persons in the preclinical phase of AD, and cognitively intact adults confirmed as dementia-free during the 6-year assessment period.

Method: In a population-based sample, participants were stratified according to APOE genotype (ε4 or non-ε4) and whether they received a diagnosis of AD at the end of either a 3- or 6-year assessment period. Participants were aged 75 years and older, and were nondemented at baseline. At the end of the 3-year period, 17.2% of non-ε4 and 26.7% of ε4 carriers became demented. For the 6-year period those percentages were 11.2% for non-ε4 carriers and 16.9% for ε4-carriers.

Results: Individuals in the preclinical phase of AD showed greater decline …