Association of APOE polymorphisms with disease severity in MS is limited to women.
The authors studied the association of an exon 4 (E4*epsilon2/3/4) and three promoter polymorphisms of APOE with disease course and severity stratified by gender in 221 patients with multiple sclerosis from two overlapping population-based prevalence cohorts. Women carriers of the E4*epsilon2 allele took longer to attain an Expanded Disability Status Scale score of 6 (p = 0.015) and had more favorable ranked severity scores than noncarriers (p = 0.009). There was no association in men. Alleles epsilon3 or epsilon4 and promoter polymorphisms were not associated with disease course or severity.
Kantarci
O H
OH
Departments of Neurology, Health Sciences Research, Neuroscience Program, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN, USA.
Hebrink
D D
DD
Achenbach
S J
SJ
Pittock
S J
SJ
Altintas
A
A
Schaefer-Klein
J L
JL
Atkinson
E J
EJ
De Andrade
M
M
McMurray
C T
CT
Rodriguez
M
M
Weinshenker
B G
BG
D000328:Adult; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E