Gender differences in a Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic population with respect to apolipoprotein E phenotype frequencies

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism was examined in an Italian population of Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients. There were significant differences (p <0.05) in allele frequencies between male and female patients due to an under-representation of the E4 allele in the female group. No differences in allele frequencies were noted when non-diabetic male and female control subjects were compared. Both control groups exhibited similar allele distributions to that of male diabetic patients, but were significantly different (p <0.05) from female diabetic patients. A closer examination of the female diabetic population revealed that under-representation of the E4 allele was principally confined to patients aged 60 years or older. This sub-group showed a significantly different (p <0.05) allele frequency profile from control subjects (both men and women) and diabetic men, whereas this was not observed in the younger diabetic women (≤ 59 years). The results are consistent with the suggestion that the E4 allele may be a particular risk factor for female diabetic patients.