Table 1.
Clinical information and cognitive profiles.
| p -values | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOAD (n = 19) | LOAD (n = 19) | NC (n = 16) | EOAD vs. LOAD | EOAD vs. NC | LOAD vs. NC | |
| Age (IQR) | 64.5(63.0, 67.5) | 78.0 (74.0, 79.0) | 70.0(63.0, 73.0) | <0.001 | 0.318 | <0.001 |
| Age of onset (IQR) | 61.0 (56.0, 64.0) | 72.0 (69.0, 77.0) | N/A | <0.001 | N/A | N/A |
| Sex F:M | 12:7 | 12:7 | 7:9 | >0.99 | 0.954 | 0.954 |
| Education (IQR) | 10.4 (8.0, 12.0) | 12.0 (12.0, 16.0) | 16.0 (12.0, 16.0) | 0.645 | 0.009 | 0.288 |
| APOE4 carrier a | 12/18 (66.7%) | 8/19 (42.1%) | 0/12 (0%) | 0.574 | 0.001 | 0.035 |
| Amyloid PET positive b | 17/17 | 7/7 | 0/4 | N/Ac | N/Ac | N/Ac |
| Attention | ||||||
| Forward digit span (IQR) | 6 (4, 7) | 6 (5, 7) | 7 (6, 8) | >0.99 | 0.058 | 0.033 |
| Backward digit span (IQR) | 3 (2, 4) | 3 (2, 4) | 5 (4, 7) | >0.99 | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Language | ||||||
| K-BNT (IQR) | 44 (22, 48) | 29 (16, 37) | 54 (49, 57) | 0.141 | 0.002 | <0.001 |
| Calculation (IQR) | 9 (8, 12) | 9 (7, 12) | 12 (12, 12) | >0.99 | 0.004 | 0.002 |
| Visuospatial function | ||||||
| RCFT: copying (IQR) | 28.0 (12.5, 32.0) | 25.0 (4.5, 29.0) | 35.0 (34.0, 35.5) | 0.966 | 0.001 | <001 |
| Memory | ||||||
| SVLT: immediate recall (IQR) | 12 (7, 14) | 9 (8, 11) | 24 (21, 26) | 0.812 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| SVLT: delayed recall (IQR) | 0 (0, 0) | 0 (0, 0) | 8 (7, 10) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| SVLT: recognition (IQR) | 15 (12, 17) | 15 (14, 16) | 23 (22, 24) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| RCFT: immediate recall (IQR) | 2.5 (1.0, 3.0) | 0.5 (0.5, 3.0) | 21.5 (15.5, 28.0) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| RCFT: delayed recall (IQR) | 0.0 (0.0, 0.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.5) | 20.0 (15.5, 27.0) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| RCFT: recognition (IQR) | 16.0 (14.0, 17.0) | 15.0 (14.0, 17.5) | 21.5 (20.0, 22.0) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Frontal/executive functions | ||||||
| COWAT animal (IQR) | 10 (6, 12) | 9 (5, 11)) | 19 (17, 23) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| COWAT supermarket (IQR) | 9, (8, 10) | 9 (7, 11) | 19 (15, 23) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| COWAT phonemic (IQR) | 13 (11, 20) | 11 (7, 19) | 37 (33, 45) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Stroop test: color (IQR) | 46 (19, 71) | 25 (5, 61) | 111 (86, 112) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| MMSE (IQR) | 19 (16, 24) | 18 (16, 20) | 30 (29, 30) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| CDR (IQR) | 1.0 (1.0, 1.5) | 1.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 0.5 (0.5, 0.5) | 0.946 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| CDR sum of box (IQR) | 5.5 (5.0, 9.5) | 7.0 (5.0, 10.0) | 0.5 (0.5, 0.5) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| GDS (IQR) | 1.5 (1.0, 3.5) | 3.5 (1.0, 7.0) | 1.5 (0.0, 6.0) | >0.99 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Data are presented as the median and IQR (interquartile range) for continuous variables, and the Kruskal–Wallis test and post hoc assessments with Dunn's pairwise tests were used for comparisons.
chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables.
APOE4, apolipoprotein E4; EOAD, early-onset Alzheimer's disease; CDR, Clinical Dementia Rating; COWAT, Controlled Oral Word Association Test; K-BNT, Korean version of the Boston Naming Test; LOAD, late-onset Alzheimer's disease; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; N/A: not accessible; NC, normal control; PET, positron emission tomography; RCFT, Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test; SVLT, Seoul Verbal Learning Test.
APOE4 was analyzed in 49 patients: 18 patients with EOAD, 19 patients with LOAD, and 12 NCs. Participants with one or more copies of the ε4 allele (i.e., ε2/4, ε3/4, ε4/4) were considered to be ε4 carriers (28).
Amyloid PET was analyzed in 28 patients: 17 patients with EOAD, 7 patients with LOAD, and 4 NCs. Amyloid PET positivity was interpreted based on the previously reported guidelines for each ligand (29, 30).
Statistical analysis of amyloid PET positivity between EOAD vs. LOAD, EOAD vs. NC, and LOAD vs. NC groups were not available because all patients with AD tested positive, and all NC participants tested negative in their amyloid scans.
The italic values show significant differences at P values < 0.05.