title: No association between the genes for butyrylcholinesterase K variant and apolipoprotein E4 in late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) as well as acetylcholinesterase has been suggested to be associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lehmann et al. [1997: Hum Mol Genet 6:1933-1936] recently reported the synergism between the gene for the K variant of BChE (BCHE-K) and the epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE epsilon4) in late-onset confirmed AD with Caucasian subjects. The authors found that the allelic frequency of BCHE-K was 0.17 in 74 subjects with late-onset histopathologically diagnosed AD, which was higher than the frequencies in elderly control subjects (0.09) and in other dementias (0.07-0.10). The association of BCHE-K with late-onset AD was limited to carriers of APOE epsilon4, giving odds ratios of confirmed late-onset AD of 6.9-12.8. In the present study, we report the BCHE-K allelic frequencies in late-onset AD cases and in age-matched controls of the Korean population, which were 0.22 and 0.17, respectively. We could not find any association between BCHE-K and AD regardless of APOE epsilon4 carrier status. However, APOE epsilon4 clearly showed higher frequency in AD (0.33) than in elderly controls (0.09), giving an odds ratio of 5.2 (95% confidence interval, 2.7-10.0). Our results do not support the conclusion that BCHE-K, or a nearby gene on chromosome 3, acts in synergy with APOE epsilon4 as a susceptibility gene for late-onset AD, at least in the Korean population.
authors: Department of Clinical Pathology, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
authors: C S
authors: CS
authors: Ki
authors: D L
authors: DL
authors: Na
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Kim
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Kim
authors: D K
authors: DK
authors: Kim
authors: B K
authors: BK
authors: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase