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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1996;16:898-904.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

The 18th Annual Meeting of the European Lipoprotein Club

Anton F.H. Stalenhoef; Katriina Aalto-Setala; Victor W. Armstrong; Pascale Benlian; Armin Steinmetz

Correspondence to Dr A.F.H. Stalenhoef, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University Hospital Nijmegen, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, Netherlands.

	Introduction

 
The European Lipoprotein Club met September 11th to the 14th, 1995, in Tutzing, Germany. There were 101 participants from 12 European countries and the United States. Warren J. Strittmatter (Durham, NC) opened the meeting with a state-of-the-art lecture on "Apolipoprotein E and Alzheimer's Disease." Inheritance of specific apoE alleles in large part determines the risk and mean age of onset of late-onset and sporadic AD. Patients with late-onset AD have a higher probability of having the APOE4 allele (50% at age 75 years), whereas the APOE2 allele is associated with a later age of onset. Dr Strittmatter discussed the possible mechanisms whereby apoE isoforms contribute differently to disease expression. In his opinion, identifying the isoform-specific pathways of apoE metabolism is central to the development and testing of hypotheses on the pathogenesis of AD.

Isoform-specific differences have been identified in the binding of apoE to the MAP-, which forms paired helical filaments and neurofibrillary tangles, and to ß-amyloid peptide, a major component of the neuritic plaque. An unresolved issue of great importance is the relationship between structural pathological lesions and the cellular pathogenesis responsible for the major signs and symptoms of disease, namely, progressive dementia. Identification of apoE in the cytoplasm of human neurons and characterization of isoform-specific binding of apoE to the MAP- and MAP-2 present the possibility that apoE may affect microtubule function in the brain of AD patients. Dr Strittmatter concluded his presentation with a report on studies that have found differences in the cross-linking of apoE . . . [Full Text of this Article]