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Prospective associations of exercise and depressive symptoms in older adults: the role of apolipoprotein E4

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Abstract

Purpose

Exercise is associated with reduced risk of depressive symptoms at older ages, while recent work suggests that the apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (APOE-e4) may increase risk. There are no studies of whether APOE-e4 moderates the relationship between exercise and later life depressive symptoms. This study aimed to explore whether the prospective associations between exercise and subsequent depressive symptoms were distinct between APOE-e4 carriers and non-carriers using nationwide data.

Methods

Data from 639 participants (mean age = 66.14, SD = 7.26) in 2000 with 6 years of follow-up were studied. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale. Exercise and the APOE genotype were also assessed at baseline. Negative binomial regression models were conducted to examine the combined effects of exercise and APOE-e4 status on subsequent depressive symptoms when controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and other covariates. Sensitivity analyses to test for confounding, reverse causality, and attrition were conducted.

Results

Among APOE-e4 carriers, there was no significant difference in depressive symptoms between high active and low active groups. In contrast, high active APOE-e4 non-carriers had fewer depressive symptoms than low active APOE-e4 non-carriers. The beneficial effect of exercise on depressive symptoms is restricted to APOE-e4 non-carriers. Sensitivity analyses provided further support for the robustness of these findings.

Conclusions

This is the first prospective study investigating whether APOE-e4 moderates the association between exercise and depressive symptoms. It proposes that genetic variation in APOE may influence the effect of exercise on depressive symptoms.

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Funding

This work was supported by Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (105-2628-H-018-001-MY2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Sports and Health, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Po-Wen Ku

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    Po-Wen Ku, Andrew Steptoe & Li-Jung Chen

  3. Department of Exercise Health Science, National Taiwan University of Sport, No. 271, Lixing Road, Taichung, 404, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Li-Jung Chen

Authors
  1. Po-Wen Ku
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Correspondence to Li-Jung Chen.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethical approval

Ethics approval for this study was obtained from Antai Medical Care Cooperation Antai- Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital Institutional Review Board, Taiwan (reference number: TSMHIRB 15-078-CO). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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A signed, informed consent form was provided by each participant before conducting the study.

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Ku, PW., Steptoe, A. & Chen, LJ. Prospective associations of exercise and depressive symptoms in older adults: the role of apolipoprotein E4. Qual Life Res 26, 1799–1808 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1537-1

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