Impact of sex and APOE-ε4 genotype on regional brain metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease

the strongest predictors of the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This work models the pathological progression of regional brain hypometabolism, using mixed-effect models with latent time variable and longitudinal FDG-PET data. Statistical comparisons then disentangle the effects of sex and APOE-epsilon 4 genotype on the onset age and pace of progression of hympometabolism in each brain region, while correcting for education level. They provide a brain map of the regions with earlier and/or faster alterations of the metabolism. We show that females are associated with faster hypometabolism in the caudate nuclei, the thalamus and right temporal and medial-occipital lobes, while APOE-epsilon 4 is associated with earlier hypometabolism in the limbic system (hippocampus, parahippocampus and amygdala) and temporal lobe.