• Zhaohui Zhang, Junlin Mu, Jing Li, Wenqiang Li, and Jinggui Song.
• Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
• Genet Test Mol Biomarkers. 2013 Jan 1; 17 (1): 47-51.

BackgroundApolipoprotein E (ApoE) is associated with some diseases with cognitive function defect.AimsThe purpose of this study was to examine the influence of ApoE on poststroke depression (PSD) risk and to define objective markers for diagnosis.MethodsThe cognitive function, serum ApoE, and peripheral mononuclear blood cell ApoE mRNA expression of patients with PSD were compared to age-matched control patients with stroke and healthy volunteers. Sixty-seven patients with stroke were selected according to the cerebral infarction diagnosis standard of the Fourth National Cerebrovascular Disease Conference and divided into a PSD group (28 patients, 43-76 years old) or a control stroke group (39 patients, 43-78 years old) using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and compared to 40 healthy volunteers (42-78 years old). Cognitive function was evaluated by analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), while expression of ApoE mRNA was determined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and serum ApoE by ELISA.ResultsThe latencies of ERP components N2 and P3 were prolonged, and the P3 amplitude was lower in the PSD group compared to the control stroke group and healthy controls (p<0.01). There were no significant group differences in N1 and P2 latencies (all p>0.05). The latency of N2 was positively correlated to the P3 latency in the PSD group (p<0.05). No associations were detected between P3 amplitude, expression of ApoE mRNA, and serum ApoE in the PSD group (all p>0.05). The ERP results indicated that patients with PSD were significantly slower at identifying a target stimulus, suggesting deficits in perception and/or cognitive processing. Peripheral expression of ApoE mRNA was lower in the PSD group than the control stroke group (p<0.701) while serum ApoE was higher than in the control stroke group (p<0.05), possibly reflecting a feedback reduction in expression.ConclusionWe suggest that aberrant serum ApoE together with abnormalities in some ERP components may be useful markers for assessment of PSD risk and clinical diagnosis.

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