Coronary artery disease and plasma apolipoprotein E4 in mild cognitive impairment

Atherosclerosis and apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) are known risks for Dementia. We sought to evaluate the relationship between coronary atherosclerosis and APOE4 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

In a case-control study, subjects with age more than 60 years and recent coronary angiography were evaluated by mini-mental state examination and neuropsychiatry unit cognitive assessment tool (NUCOG) to find the patients with MCI (n = 40) and the controls with normal cognition (n = 40). Coronary angiography records were re-assessed to find the severity of coronary artery disease by the Gensini scores. Plasma levels of APOE4 were measured.

There were no-significant difference between the 2 groups regarding the plasma APOE4 levels (P = 0.706) and the Gensini scores (P = 0.236). Associations between the Gensini scores and the NUCOG scores in the MCI group (r = -0.196, P = 0.225) and the control group (r = 0.189, P = 0.243) were not significant. However, the interaction effect between the Gensini and the NUCOG scores based on allocation to the control or the patient groups showed statistically significant difference (F(1,67) = 4.84, P = 0.031).

Although atherosclerosis has been considered as known risk factor for dementia and MCI, this study could not reveal that coronary atherosclerosis-related to declining in cognitive functioning. There was no significant association between plasma APOE4 levels and MCI.