Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele is associated with vascular dementia.
OBJECTIVE
The apolipoprotein E (ApoE) exon 4 polymorphism has been associated with vascular dementia (VaD) risk. Since not all studies confirm this finding, we explored this association in a case-control study.


METHODS
We genotyped ApoE in 144 VaD patients and 251 controls.


RESULTS
VaD patients were more likely than controls to have ApoE epsilon3/epsilon4 or epsilon4/epsilon4 genotypes: 23.6% versus 15.1%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.7, p = 0.036. This association remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension and diabetes by multiple logistic regression: OR = 1.9, p = 0.030. The association of epsilon3/epsilon4 or epsilon4/epsilon4 genotypes with VaD was strong among people with hypertension (OR = 2.9, p = 0.007) or diabetes (OR = 6.5, p = 0.011). The association was absent among people without hypertension (OR = 1.1, p = 0.79) or diabetes (OR = 1.3, p = 0.43).


CONCLUSIONS
This interaction with hypertension and diabetes should be examined in other studies to confirm or refute this observation.
Baum
Larry
L
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR, China. lwbaum@cuhk.edu.hk
Lam
Linda C W
LC
Kwok
Timothy
T
Lee
Jenny
J
Chiu
Helen F K
HF
Mok
Vincent C T
VC
Wong
Adrian
A
Chen
Xiangyan
X
Cheung
Wing Sze
WS
Pang
Chi Pui
CP
Ma
Suk Ling
SL
Tang
Nelson L S
NL
Wong
Ka Sing
KS
Ng
Ho Keung
HK
D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020521:Stroke / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D004247:DNA