Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele is associated with vascular dementia

Abstract

Background/aims: The apolipoprotein E (ApoE) exon 4 polymorphism has been associated with vascular dementia (VaD) risk. Since not all studies confirm this finding, we explored this association in a case-control study.

Methods: We genotyped ApoE in 144 VaD patients and 251 controls.

Results: VaD patients were more likely than controls to have ApoE epsilon3/epsilon4 or epsilon4/epsilon4 genotypes: 23.6% versus 15.1%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.7, p = 0.036. This association remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension and diabetes by multiple logistic regression: OR = 1.9, p = 0.030. The association of epsilon3/epsilon4 or epsilon4/epsilon4 genotypes with VaD was strong among people with hypertension (OR = 2.9, p = 0.007) or diabetes (OR = 6.5, p = 0.011). The association was absent among people without hypertension (OR = 1.1, p = 0.79) or diabetes (OR = 1.3, p = 0.43).

Conclusion: This interaction with hypertension and diabetes should be examined in other studies to confirm or refute this observation.