title: Apolipoprotein E gene and age-related macular degeneration in a Chinese population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study consisted of 712 subjects, including 201 controls, 363 cases with early AMD, and 148 cases with exudative AMD. Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood leukocytes. Common allelic variants of APOE (ε2, ε3, and ε4) were analyzed by PCR and direct sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  APOE ε3ε3 was the most frequent genotype, with a frequency of 72.6% in controls, 72.5% in early AMD, and 70.3% in exudative AMD. Frequency of the ε2 allele was 6.7% in controls, 7.4% in early AMD, and 8.8% in exudative AMD. Frequency of the ε4 allele was 8.7% in controls, 7.7% in early AMD, and 7.8% in exudative AMD. No statistically significant difference in APOE genotype and allele frequency distribution was observed among controls, cases with early AMD, and cases with exudative AMD. For ε2 allele carriers, the odds ratio was 1.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-1.93) for early AMD and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.53-2.10) for exudative AMD. For ε4 allele carriers, the odds ratio was 1.04 (95% CI, 0.61-1.75) for early AMD and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.42-1.62) for exudative AMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data provide no evidence to support an association of APOE polymorphisms with early or exudative AMD, suggesting that APOE is less likely to be a major AMD susceptibility gene in the Chinese population.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Erdan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Apiradee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Xipu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Torkel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Snellingen
authors.forename: Ningli
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ningpu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D053329:Apolipoprotein E2 / Q000235:genetics*; D053318:Apolipoprotein E3 / Q000235:genetics*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D053329:Apolipoprotein E2; D053318:Apolipoprotein E3; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D004247:DNA