Abstract
Objectives:: Several genetic factors have been associated with cognitive decline in aging. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) 4 has been widely studied in the risk for pathological cognitive decline, including dementia. However, the association between ApoE 4 and cognitive functioning in the healthy aging Indian population has been understudied, and the results are ambiguous. Materials and Methods:: This study aims to examine the role of the ApoE genotype with attentional function in aging adults (45 years) in a rural Indian population. Cross-sectional (baseline) data (n = 2100) was utilized from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study on aging (Srinivaspura Aging, Neurosenescence, and Cognition study). Participants hailed from villages of Srinivaspura in Karnataka, southern India. Participants were categorized based on ApoE-4 status into three categories: No 4, heterozygous 4, and homozygous 4. Attentional function was assessed using the auditory and visual attention subtests from a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Linear regression was performed adjusting for age, gender, and education. Results:: In model 1 (unadjusted), we did not find an association between ApoE and attention function. In the partially adjusted model 2 (adjusting for age), ApoE 4 with age was significantly associated with the attention function. Further, with increasing age, there was a decline in attention among homozygous 4 individuals. Model 3 (model 2 + gender) found that ApoE 4, age, and gender explained a significant variance in attention function. In addition, with increasing age, males had poor attention in the homozygous as compared to heterozygous group. Model 4 (model 3+ education) explained a significant variance in attention and also revealed that with increasing age, attention declined in the illiterate and low literacy groups in both homozygous and heterozygous groups among both genders. Conclusion:: Although ApoE 4 alone was not associated, it interacted with age, gender, and education to affect attention function in this rural Indian population. Longitudinal cognitive monitoring will yield insights into understanding whether the ApoE 4 genotype influences the rate of cognitive decline in this rural, aging population.
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
