AUTHOR=Chen Ying , Li Tao-Ran , Hao Shu-Wen , Wang Xiao-Ni , Cai Yan-Ning , Han Ying 

TITLE=Blood NCAPH2 Methylation Is Associated With Hippocampal Volume in Subjective Cognitive Decline With Apolipoprotein E ε4 Non-carriers

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2021.632382

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2021.632382

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=Objective: This study assessed the methylation of peripheral NCAPH2 in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), identified its correlation with hippocampal volume and explored whether the correlation is influenced by apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) status.
Methods: Cognitively normal controls (NC, n = 56), individuals with SCD (n = 81) and objective cognitive impairment patients (OCI, n = 51) were included from the Sino Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Decline (NCT03370744). All participants completed neuropsychological assessments, blood tests, and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). NCAPH2 methylation was compared according to diagnostic and APOE ε4 status. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to assess the correlations between hippocampal volume, cognitive tests and NCAPH2 methylation levels.
Results: Individuals with SCD and OCI patients showed significantly lower levels of NCAPH2 methylation than NC, which was independent of the APOE ε4 status. The NCAPH2 methylation levels and hippocampal volumes were positively correlated in the SCD APOE ε4 non-carriers, but not in OCI group. No association was found between NCAPH2 methylation levels and cognitive function.
Conclusion: Abnormal changes in blood NCAPH2 methylation were found to occur in SCD, indicating its potential to be used as a useful peripheral biomarker in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease screening.