Prior studies showed that people with the epsilon (e) 4 variant of the apolipoprotein-E gene are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people with the other two variants of the gene, e2 and e3, researchers said.
"Studying these genes in young children may ultimately give us early indications of who may be at risk for dementia in the future and possibly even help us develop ways to prevent the disease from occurring or to delay the start of the disease," said Linda Chang from University of Hawaii in the US.
Each person receives one copy of the gene (e2, e3 or e4) from each parent, so there are six possible gene variants: e2e2, e3e3, e4e4, e2e3, e2e4 and e3e4.
The study found that children with any form of the e4 gene had differences in their brain development compared to children with e2 and e3 forms of the gene. The differences were seen in areas of the brain that are often affected by Alzheimer's disease, researchers said.
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Children younger than 8 and with the e4e4 genotype typically had lower measures on a brain scan that shows the structural integrity of the hippocampus, researchers said.
"These findings mirror the smaller volumes and steeper decline of the hippocampus volume in the elderly who have the e4 gene," said Chang.
In addition, some of the children with e4e4 or e4e2 genotype also had lower scores on some of the tests of memory and thinking skills, researchers said.
However, children older than 8 with these two genotypes had similar and normal test scores compared to the other children.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology.