APOE genotype in cerebrovascular disease and vascular dementia.
BACKGROUND
The fact that the allele epsilon 4 of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene could act like a risk factor not only in late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) but also in cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and vascular dementia (VaD) is still controversial.


METHODS
In order to study if epsilon 4 allele is overrepresented not only in AD but also in CVD and VaD, APOE genotyping was undertaken in a series of 247 patients: 26 cases with VaD, 41 cases with CVD but without cognitive impairment (CVD-C), 83 cases with AD and 97 aged-matched "healthy controls" (HC).


RESULTS
Percentages of subjects bearing one or two copies of the epsilon 4 allele was much higher in AD patients (54%) than in either CVD-C (29%) (p<0.05), VaD (15%) (p<0.001) or HC (13%) (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
These results strengthen the hypothesis that involves the APOE epsilon 4 allele as a predisposing factor for AD, but not for CVD or VaD.
Frank
A
A
Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Paseo de la Castellana, 261-28046 Madrid, Spain. afrank@hulp.insalud.es
Díez-Tejedor
E
E
Bullido
M J
MJ
Valdivieso
F
F
Barreiro
P
P
D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
D001057:Apolipoproteins E