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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Generalized Psychophysiological Interaction (PPI) Analysis of Memory Related Connectivity in Individuals at Genetic Risk for Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: November 14, 2017
Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 and testosterone interact in the risk of Alzheimer's disease in men
E Hogervorst1, D J Lehmann, D R Warden
1Oxford Project To Investigate Memory and Ageing, Department of Pharmacology, Radcliffe, Infirmary, Oxford, UK. eva.hogervorst@pharm.ox.ac.uk
Objectives:
To assess the association between testosterone levels and APOEepsilon4 in cases with AD and controls.
Method:
We included 61 men with definite or probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 55 elderly male controls from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA). Testosterone was measured using a competitive enzyme immunoassay (Bayer).
Results:
We found that both low serum testosterone and the interaction between testosterone and APOEepsilon4 were associated with AD. Furthermore, testosterone levels were lower in APOEepsilon4-positive controls (mean: 11.3 nmol/L) than in controls without the allele (19.1 nmol/L).
Conclusions:
Low testosterone is potentially a modifiable risk factor, which may prove relevant to APOEepsilon4 carriers who are at risk of AD.
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