Latest Apolipoprotein E Stories

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In April 2011, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Alzheimer's Association published new criteria and guidelines for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. These guidelines separate the progression of Alzheimer's into three phases: (1) pre-clinical (or pre-symptomatic) Alzheimer's disease, (2) mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease, and (3) Alzheimer's disease dementia. Phases (1)...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With FDA approval of a brain amyloid imaging compound in early 2012 and the expected start in 2012 and 2013 of three clinical trials in people with pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, issues around disclosure of dementia risk status are becoming more urgent. Several research efforts reported today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference® 2012 (AAIC® 2012) describe the creation and evaluation of...

LONDON, July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AstraZeneca and Dr. Steven Paul of Weill Cornell Medical College today announced a first of its kind research alliance that brings four leading academic research laboratories together with AstraZeneca to study a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, the apolipoprotein E4 genotype (ApoE). Members of the newly established collaboration with AstraZeneca, called the A5 alliance, include Dr. Paul of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease...

NEW YORK, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- There is a well-known link between Alzheimer's disease and a gene called ApoE4. In fact, people who carry two copies of the gene have approximately 8 to 10 times the risk of getting Alzheimer's than those who do not have the gene. Up to now though, little was known about how ApoE4 contributed to Alzheimer's devastating deterioration of the brain. However, in a ground breaking study published in Nature and financed by the Alzheimer's...

A well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts, scientists report May 16 in the journal Nature. The results come from a team of scientists investigating why a gene called ApoE4 makes people more prone to developing Alzheimer’s. People who carry two copies of the gene have roughly eight to 10 times the risk of getting...

Common variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease, but the gene's role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain. The researchers found that the high-risk variant, ApoE4, triggers an inflammatory reaction that weakens the blood-brain barrier, a network of cells and...

Efforts to understand how the aging process affects the brain and cognition have expanded beyond simply comparing younger and older adults. "Everybody ages differently. By looking at genetic variations and individual differences in markers of vascular health, we begin to understand that preventable factors may affect our chances for successful aging," said Wayne State University psychology doctoral student Andrew Bender, lead author of a study supported by the National Institute on Aging...

Discovery challenges current thinking and points to new therapies Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have enhanced our understanding of how a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease keeps young brains healthy, but can damage them later in life—suggesting new research avenues for treating this devastating disease. In the Journal of Neuroscience, available online today, researchers in the laboratory of Yadong Huang, MD, PhD, have uncovered the distinct roles that the apoE protein...

BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Accera, Inc., a privately-held, commercial-stage, healthcare company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics to treat central nervous system disorders, announced today that a poster highlighting retrospective data about the company's product Axona® will be presented during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) 2012 in Washington, D.C., March 15-19, 2012. The...

A Defective ApoE Gene, Called ApoE4, Can Contribute to Causing Alzheimer's Disease by Failing to Synthesize the Synapse-Generating Enzyme, PKC Epsilon MORGANTOWN, W.Va., March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, researchers at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia reported a significant advance in understanding how different forms of the ApoE gene raise the risk for Alzheimer's disease. Among the...