High-fat diet increases gliosis and immediate early gene expression in APOE3 mice, but not APOE4 mice

Background APOE 4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and obesity is a strong environmental risk factor for AD. These factors result in multiple central nervous system (CNS) disturbances and significantly increase chances of AD. Since over 20% of the US population carry the APOE 4 allele and over 40% are obese, it is important to understand how these risk factors interact to affect neurons and glia in the CNS....