Association between Serum Concentrations of Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) and Alzheimer’s Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: A wealth of experimental and epidemiological evidence suggest that Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I), the main protein constituent of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), may protect against Alzheimer disease (AD). To investigate this potential role, we conducted a meta-analysis of the published studies on the relationship between serum ApoA-I and AD occurrence. Methods: We screened MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus, for cross-sectional studies published from inception to 1 March 2021, comparing the ApoA-I serum levels between patients with AD and cognitively normal controls. Results: From an initial screening of 245 articles, 5 studies, including 397 AD patients (mean age 75.0 years, 234 females) and 367 controls (mean age 69.2 years, 182 females), met the inclusion criteria. Compared to healthy controls, AD subjects had a lower ApoA-I serum level. The pooled weighted mean difference from a random-effects model was −0.31 g/L (p < 0.0001) (95% Confidence Interval: [−0.62–0.01], with high heterogeneity (I2 = 100%). The Egger’s test confirmed an absence of publication bias (t = 0.62, p = 0.576). Conclusions: Our study showed that AD patients present lower serum levels of ApoA-I compared to cognitively normal individuals. Further studies on large population samples are required to support this finding.