Osteoarthritis and APOE4 Interact to Influence Memory Decline in Non-Demented Older People

The question that whether the presence of osteoarthritis (OA) can modify the effects of apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) genotype on longitudinal change in cognitive performance among non-demented older people remains unclear.

To examine whether the association of APOE4 genotype with change in verbal episodic memory over time is modified by the presence of OA among non-demented older people.

Longitudinal data from 1,400 non-demented older people were obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. The sample included 466 healthy individuals and 934 mild cognitive impairment. The effects of the OA×APOE4 genotype interaction term on longitudinal change in cognitive performance were examined using linear mixed-effects regression models. Global cognition was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination score and Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes. Verbal episodic memory was evaluated by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) immediate recall and delayed recall score.

We found that OA interacted with APOE4 genotype to influence longitudinal change in verbal episodic memory (as assessed by RAVLT immediate recall score) but not global cognition. Specifically, the OA-/APOE4+ group had a steeper decline in RAVLT immediate recall score compared with the OA+/APOE4+ group. However, there was no difference in RAVLT immediate recall score between OA-/APOE4-and OA+/APOE4-individuals.

Our study suggested that the association of APOE4 genotype with change in RAVLT immediate recall score over time is modified by the presence of OA at earliest stages of the disease.