Neuropathology-based APOE genetic risk score better quantifies Alzheimer’s risk

Abstract INTRODUCTION APOE ε4 -carrier status or ε4 allele count are included in analyses to account for the APOE genetic effect on Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, this does not account for protective effects of APOE ε2 or heterogeneous effect of ε2, ε3, ε4 haplotypes. METHODS We leveraged results from an autopsy-confirmed AD study to generate a weighted risk score for APOE ( APOE -npscore). We regressed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid and tau biomarkers on APOE variables from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). RESULTS The APOE -npscore explained more variance and provided a better model fit for all three CSF measures than APOE ε4 -carrier status and ε4 allele count. These findings were replicated in ADNI and observed in subsets of cognitively unimpaired participants. DISCUSSION The APOE -npscore reflects the genetic effect on neuropathology and provides an improved method to account for APOE in AD-related analyses.