Apoe ε2 and ε4 influence the susceptibility for Alzheimer's disease but not other dementias

Carlo Lovati, Daniela Galimberti, Diego Albani, Pierluigi Bertora, Eliana Venturelli, Giuliana Cislaghi, Ilaria Guidi, Chiara Fenoglio, Francesca Cortini, Francesca Clerici, Dario Finazzi, Gianluigi Forloni, Elio Scarpini, Claudio Mariani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype was determined in a population of patients with dementia, including 735 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 75 with Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), 97 with Vascular Dementia (VaD) and 40 with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), as well as in 506 age-and gender-matched controls (CON). APOE ε2 allele frequency was lower in patients with AD (2.8%) than in CON (6.4%, P≤0.001, OR: 0.41). Similar results were obtained comparing AD with FTLD (6.7%, P≤0.01, OR: 0.37), at difference from VaD (5.6%, P>0.05) or LBD (5.0%, P>0.05). The frequency of the APOE ε4 allele was increased in patients with AD (25.1%) as compared with CON (8.2%, P≤0.001, OR: 4.24), FTLD (11.3%, P≤0.001, OR: 2.67), VaD (11.8%, P≤0.001, OR: 3.02), or LBD (13.8%, P=0.048, OR: 2.07). The frequency of the ε4/ε4 genotype was increased in AD patients compared with controls (6.3 versus 0.8%, P≤0.001, OR: 8.38). The presence of the ε2 allele is a protective factor for AD, whereas the ε4 allele acts as a risk factor for the disease. Both alleles do not influence the susceptibility to FTLD, LBD and VaD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)193-200
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics
Volume1
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease (AD)
  • Apolipoprotein E (APOE)
  • Frontotemporal lobar degeneraton (FTLD)
  • Lewy body dementia (LBD)
  • Risk factor
  • Vascular dementia (VaD)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Genetics(clinical)
  • Genetics

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