J Korean Neurol Assoc.  2000 Sep;18(5):568-574.

Apolipoprotein E Genotyping in the Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

• Bang OY
• Kwak YT

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest in the use of genetic markers in predicting the various types of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). It is important to differentiate AD from other causes of dementia because the early diagnosis of AD or VD could lead to early therapeutic intervention. This study is to confirm the association of the apolipoprotein E (Apo E) epsilon 4 allele with AD and, to confirm the differential diagnostic values of Apo E4 in the various causes of dementia.
METHODS
One hundred seventy-seven patients participated in the study. Fifty-one had a diagnosis of AD, 68 with VD, 18 with mixed dementia, 17 with other dementia, and 23 controls with no diagnoses of dementia. Patients with AD and VD met the criteria of NINCDS-ADRDA and NINDS-AIREN respectively. The genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood and the Apo E allele was determined by polymerase chain reactions.
RESULTS
The Apo E4 allele frequency in the AD group was 21.6% and was significantly different (p<0.05) from those of non-demented controls (4.3%) or VD (8.1%). The age of onset of AD was delayed by the presence of the Apo E2 allele and by the absence of Apo E4 allele, although was not statistically significant. The severities of dementia assessed by MMSE were not different among groups with different Apo E genotypes, implying that factors other than Apo E might be involved in the progression of AD.
CONCLUSIONS
The Apo E genotypes can be a valuable genetic marker for predicting the risk for AD in Korea and also for differentiating AD from VD cases.

Keyword

Dementia; Alzheimer disease; Apolipoproteins E

MeSH Terms

Age of Onset
Alleles
Alzheimer Disease*
Apolipoprotein E2
Apolipoprotein E4
Apolipoproteins E
Apolipoproteins*
Dementia
Dementia, Vascular
Diagnosis*
Diagnosis, Differential*
DNA
Early Diagnosis
Gene Frequency
Genetic Markers
Genotype
Humans
Korea
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Apolipoprotein E2
Apolipoprotein E4
Apolipoproteins
Apolipoproteins E
DNA
Genetic Markers