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By Suzanne Rostler
NEW YORK, Mar 15 (Reuters Health) - The unexplained and dramatic weight loss that some women with Alzheimer's disease suffer may be linked to a particular gene, according to a new research findings.
The gene, APOE e4, is the most important known risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease. Now, Finnish researchers report that the gene might also contribute to the weight loss that often accompanies the degenerative brain illness.
Their study of 46 Alzheimer's patients and 911 unaffected people found that the gene was associated with weight loss in both patients and elderly individuals who did not have Alzheimer's disease.
Over the 3.5-year study, elderly people who carried the gene lost an average of 1.9 kilograms (kg), or more than 4 pounds. People who did not carry the gene gained an average of 1.2 kg (nearly 3 pounds), the report indicates.
Further analysis revealed that among all Alzheimer's disease patients, weight loss occurred only in women who carried the gene.
Severe weight loss--at least 5% of body weight--occurred more often in both patients with Alzheimer's disease and those without the disease who carried the gene, findings show.
"We suggest that APOE e4...may account for weight loss in women with Alzheimer's disease, whereas diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease per se may have less importance in this regard than formerly thought," Dr. Matti Vanhanen, from Kuopio University in Finland, and colleagues write.
Weight loss can precede the onset of dementia, increase the likelihood that elderly patients require help with daily activities such as bathing and shopping, and raise the risk of early death, the study authors explain in the March issue of Neurology.
The gene may affect an area of the brain related to the sense of smell, depressing appetite and leading to weight loss, the investigators suggest. Vanhanen, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health that the gene may interact with estrogen in a way that puts women at higher risk than men.
But it is too soon to use the gene as a way to diagnose which patients are likely to lose weight, Vanhanen added. Exactly how the gene may increase the risk of weight loss is not clear.
"This is preliminary data that needs confirmation before it can be applied to clinical work," Vanhanen said.
SOURCE: Neurology 2001;56:655-659.
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