title: APOE ε2 and ε4 influence the susceptibility for Alzheimer's disease but not other dementias.
abstract: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype was determined in a population of patients with dementia, including 735 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 75 with Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), 97 with Vascular Dementia (VaD) and 40 with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), as well as in 506 age- and gender-matched controls (CON). APOE ε2 allele frequency was lower in patients with AD (2.8%) than in CON (6.4%, P≤0.001, OR: 0.41). Similar results were obtained comparing AD with FTLD (6.7%, P≤0.01, OR: 0.37), at difference from VaD (5.6%, P>0.05) or LBD (5.0%, P>0.05). The frequency of the APOE ε4 allele was increased in patients with AD (25.1%) as compared with CON (8.2%, P≤0.001, OR: 4.24), FTLD (11.3%, P≤0.001, OR: 2.67), VaD (11.8%, P≤0.001, OR: 3.02), or LBD (13.8%, P=0.048, OR: 2.07). The frequency of the ε4/ε4 genotype was increased in AD patients compared with controls (6.3 versus 0.8%, P≤0.001, OR: 8.38). The presence of the ε2 allele is a protective factor for AD, whereas the ε4 allele acts as a risk factor for the disease. Both alleles do not influence the susceptibility to FTLD, LBD and VaD.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lovati
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albani
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bertora
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Venturelli
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cislaghi
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guidi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fenoglio
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cortini
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Finazzi
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Forloni
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scarpini
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mariani