No association between APOE genotype and lipid lowering with cognitive function in a randomized controlled trial of evolocumab
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
APOE encodes a cholesterol transporter, and the ε4 allele is associated with higher circulating cholesterol levels, ß-amyloid burden, and risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Prior studies demonstrated no significant differences in objective or subjective cognitive function for patients receiving the PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab vs. placebo added to statin therapy. There is some evidence that cholesterol-lowering medications may confer greater cognitive benefits in APOE ε4 carriers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether APOE genotype moderates the relationships between evolocumab use and cognitive function. APOE-genotyped patients (N = 13,481; 28% ε4 carriers) from FOURIER, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of evolocumab added to statin therapy in patients with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease followed for a median of 2.2 years, completed the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog) to self-report cognitive changes from the end of the trial compared to its beginning; a subset (N = 835) underwent objective cognitive testing using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery as part of the EBBINGHAUS trial. There was a dose-dependent relationship between APOE ε4 genotype and patient-reported memory decline on the ECog in the placebo arm (p = .003 for trend across genotypes; ε4/ε4 carriers vs. non-carriers: OR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.03, 2.08]) but not in the evolocumab arm (p = .50, OR = 1.18, 95% CI [.83,1.66]). However, the genotype by treatment interaction was not significant (p = .30). In the subset of participants who underwent objective cognitive testing with the CANTAB, APOE genotype did not significantly modify the relationship between treatment arm and CANTAB performance after adjustment for demographic and medical covariates, (p’s>.05). Although analyses were limited by the low population frequency of the ε4/ε4 genotype, this supports the cognitive safety of evolocumab among ε4 carriers, guiding future research on possible benefits of cholesterol-lowering medications in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Date Issued
2022-04
Date Acceptance
2022-03-19
Citation
PLoS One, 2022, 17 (4)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Journal / Book Title
PLoS One
Volume
17
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2022 Korthauer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000795158700027&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE
APOLIPOPROTEIN-E POLYMORPHISM
CARRIERS
DECLINE
IMPAIRMENT
LDL-CHOLESTEROL
Multidisciplinary Sciences
RISK
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
STATINS
TEST BATTERY CANTAB
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e0266615
Date Publish Online
2022-04-11