Category: Surgical Therapy: Parkinson's Disease
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate wheter the presence of APOE-ε4 in a cohort of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients treated with subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is a risk factor for early cognitive decline after surgery (MoCA test <26) during the first postoperative year.
Background: STN-DBS has almost no effect on axial symptoms of PD or cognition. APOE-ɛ4 status is linked to Parkinson’s disease dementia, but its effect on PD patients treated with STN-DBS has not been documented to date.
Method: We performed a single-center retrospective, cohort study of PD patients treated between 1999 and 2020 with STN-DBS. The clinical and demographic characteristics, UPDRS scale, FOG questionnaire, and MoCA test were evaluated. The APOE-ε4 gene was genotyped by using TaqMan® probes.
Results: The study included 27 patients, of whom 16 (59.3%) were male, with a mean age of 65 ± 7.9 years at the time of the study. The median age at PD diagnosis was 46.37 ± 6.4 years old. The median time from disease onset to surgery was 134 ± 50.4 months. Eight patients (29.9%) had PD-associated cognitive impairment and 5 patients (18.5%) were APOE-ε4+. There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of cognitive decline between the APOE-ε4 carriers and the APOE-ε4 non-carriers (40% vs 27.3% respectively; p=0.47). The APOE-ε4 carriers did not develop earlier cognitive decline after surgery than the non-carriers (median 38.5 months vs. 34.5 months, respectively; p=0.73). The presence of APOE-ε4+ was not related to a lower MoCA test result at the time of the study (p=0.61).
Conclusion: APOE-ε4+ status was not linked with early cognitive decline in our cohort of PD patients treated with STN-DBS. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to confirm our findings.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
A. Sánchez-Soblechero, G. Lafuente, S. Pérez, G. Velilla, M. González-Sánchez, E. González-Turiño, J. Suárez, F. Grandas, V. álvarez, B. Dela Casa. APOE-ɛ4 status and cognitive decline after subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: preliminary results of the GENEPARK-DBS study [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/apoe-%c9%9b4-status-and-cognitive-decline-after-subthalamic-nucleus-deep-brain-stimulation-in-parkinsons-disease-preliminary-results-of-the-genepark-dbs-study/. Accessed May 19, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/apoe-%c9%9b4-status-and-cognitive-decline-after-subthalamic-nucleus-deep-brain-stimulation-in-parkinsons-disease-preliminary-results-of-the-genepark-dbs-study/