Little evidence of reduced survival to adulthood of apoE epsilon4 homozygotes in Down's syndrome.
It has been proposed that homozygosity for the apolipoprotein E (apoE) epsilon4 allele decreases the probability of an individual with Down's syndrome (DS) surviving to adulthood. We performed a meta-analysis of 11 published DS series for which apoE genotype data were available. Seven epsilon4 homozygotes out of a total of 538 DS adults have been reported in the literature. This number is not significantly different from that expected based on the epsilon4 allele frequencies in the individual series (p = 0.72). We conclude that there is little evidence that epsilon4/epsilon4 genotype frequency is substantially reduced in DS adults.
Edland
S D
SD
Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington, Center for Research on Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease, Seattle 98105, USA.
Wijsman
E M
EM
Schoder-Ehri
G L
GL
Leverenz
J B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E