ABSTRACT
The best known genetic risk factor for poor outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adults is the E4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. Studying the effect of APOE alleles on outcome after mild TBI (mTBI) has proven challenging in clinical studies, due to many factors including heterogeneity of injuries, confounding clinical factors such as age and unmeasured associated genotypes, and general expense of large-scale studies. Studying the effect of APOE on outcome after mTBI in experimental models may overcome many of these hurdles, but a thorough understanding of injury and APOE models is needed prior to undertaking such studies.
