title: Homozygosity for the APOE E4 allele is solely associated with lower cognitive performance in Brazilian community-dwelling older adults: the Bambuí Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate if APOE E4 allelic status is associated with the cognitive functioning of elderly individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n = 1,408) from the Bambuí Cohort Study of Aging were selected based on the results from both variables (APOE genotype and MMSE score). Gender, age, education, marital status, skin color, GHQ score and biological measures were used as confounding factors for adjusting the logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The population was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and the APOE E4 allele frequency was 13.4%. APOE E4 allele homozygosity conferred a superior odds ratio (OR) for cognitive impairment (OR = 3.1) compared to E4 allele heterozygosity (OR = 0.99) even when adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status, skin color, triglycerides, HDL, systolic pressure, and GHQ (OR = 2.9). No differences were observed between the other covariates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The APOE E4 allele was observed to have a dramatic effect on cognitive impairment, especially in homozygotes, which comprised approximately 2% of the population.
authors: Programa de pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Laboratório de Epidemiologia e Antropologia Médica, Centro de Pesquisa Rene Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. sandraquintino@cpqrr.fiocruz.br
authors: Sandra Regina
authors: SR
authors: Quintino-Santos
authors: Maria Fernanda
authors: MF
authors: Lima-Costa
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Uchoa
authors: Josélia Oliveira de Araujo
authors: JO
authors: Firmo
authors: Emílio Hideyuki
authors: EH
authors: Moriguchi
authors: Erico de
authors: Ed
authors: Castro-Costa
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D001938:Brazil; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4