NEURODEGENERATION AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN APOE-DEFICIENT MICE IS AMELIORATED BY INFUSION OF RECOMBINANT APOE

Recent studies suggest that apolipoprotein E (apoE) might play a neuro trophic function in the central nervous system and that altered functi oning of this molecule could result in neurodegeneration. The main obj ective of this study was to determine if neurodegenerative and cogniti ve alterations in apoE-deficient mice are reversible by infusion of re combinant apoE into the lateral ventricles. ApoE-deficient mice treate d with either apoES or apoE4 showed a significant improvement in their learning capacity in the Morris water maze compared to saline-infused apoE-deficient mice. While this improved performance was associated w ith restoration of neuronal structure, the poor learning ability of ap oE-deficient mice treated with saline correlated with the disrupted sy napto-dendritic structure. This study supports the contention that apo E might play a neurotrophic effect in vivo and suggests that apoE migh t have a potential therapeutic role. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.