Apolipoprotein E epsilon4, Alzheimer's disease, and cognitive performance in elderly Mexican Mestizos.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the Mexican Mestizo population, as well as its effects on the cognitive profile of AD and elderly Mestizos without dementia.


METHODS
Cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study.


METHODS
Evaluations were conducted at the geriatrics clinic of an academic medical hospital in Mexico City.


METHODS
Forty-nine elderly subjects with AD and 141 controls selected from a representative sample of Mexican Mestizos aged 65 to 96 who participated in the Prevalence Survey of Dementia in the Mexico City Elderly Population cohort.


METHODS
All subjects underwent APOE genotypification and a comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluation.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in epsilon3 and epsilon4 frequencies between the subjects with and without AD and a tendency toward higher epsilon4 and lower epsilon3 allele frequencies in subjects aged 75 and older. No association was found between APOE epsilon4 and the presence of AD. The age-, sex-, and education-adjusted risk for AD associated with at least one epsilon4 allele was 1.01 (95% confidence interval=0.45-2.23). Performance on a long-term visual memory test was significantly worse in APOE epsilon4 carriers than in APOE epsilon3 carriers only in the group with AD.


CONCLUSIONS
APOE epsilon4 did not increase the risk for AD in this Mexican Mestizo elderly urban population sample, although the presence of this allele seems to modify its clinical expression.
Villalpando-Berumen
Juan Manuel
JM
Geriatrics Clinic, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City, Mexico.
Mejia-Arango
Silvia
S
Aguilar-Salinas
Carlos Alberto
CA
Ordonez-Sanchez
Maria Luisa
ML
Gutierrez-Robledo
Luis Miguel
LM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005784:Gene Amplification; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods; D016017:Odds Ratio; D014505:Urban Population
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D004247:DNA