Amyloid load in nondemented brains correlates with APOE e4

179 cognitively healthy adults enrolled in the Sun Health Brain Donation program between 7/91 and 12/07 were at least 60 years old and nondemented at the time of death (21 had developed mild cognitive impairment [MCI]). Amyloid plaque density, congophilic amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) density scores were based on CERAD criteria and compared in apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 carriers (n = 42) and noncarriers (NC) (n = 137). Mean age (83.4 ± .6), gender (45% women), interval between death and brain harvest (3.1 ± 2.4 h), and brain weight (1200 ± 119 g) did not differ between e4 carriers (n = 42) and NC. Total plaque density was higher in e4 carriers than NC (6.8 ± 4.9 vs. 4.3 ± 4.4, p = .002), and this was true in each of 5 subregions examined. Total CAA (p = .002) and all subregion CAA burden was also higher in e4 carriers. Total neuritic plaque density (1.2 ± 1.0 vs. 1.0 ± 1.0, p = .18) and total NFT density (3.9 ± 2.4 vs. 3.6 ± 2.3, p = .50) did not differ between e4 carriers and NC, nor in any subregion. Eliminating the 21 with MCI did not alter these results. Nondemented APOE e4 carriers over age 60 have a higher burden of total parenchymal and vascular amyloid neuropathology than NC, but no difference in neuritic plaque and NFT pathology.