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Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in German patients with frontotemporal degeneration.
M Riemenschneider1, J Diehl, U Müller
1Neurochemistry and Neurogenetics Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität München, Germany. m.riemenschneider@lrz.tu-muenchen.de
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
|April 24, 2002
Summary
Apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene variants do not influence the risk or age of onset for frontotemporal degeneration in German patients. This study found no significant differences in apoE allele frequencies or age at onset between patients and controls.
Area of Science:
- Neurogenetics
- Neurology
- Dementia Research
Background:
- The apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene polymorphism (epsilon2, epsilon3, epsilon4) is a known genetic risk factor for various dementias.
- Previous studies on apoE and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) have yielded inconclusive results.
- Investigating apoE in a German FTD cohort is crucial for clarifying its role.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the frequencies of apoE epsilon2 and epsilon4 alleles in German patients with frontotemporal degeneration.
- To assess the impact of these apoE alleles on the age of onset in FTD patients.
- To compare apoE allele frequencies between FTD patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Assessed apoE epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies in 52 FTD patients and 182 controls.
- Utilized logistic regression for genotype comparisons between groups.
- Employed linear regression to analyze the effect of apoE genotype on age at onset.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found in epsilon2 or epsilon4 allele frequencies between FTD patients (9.6% each) and controls (9.6% and 9.9%, respectively).
- Age at onset showed variations by genotype (epsilon2/epsilon3: 61.3 yrs; epsilon3/epsilon3: 58.3 yrs; epsilon3/epsilon4: 56.4 yrs), but these differences were not statistically significant.
- The study found no association between apoE genotype and age at onset in this cohort.
Conclusions:
- Allelic variants of the apolipoprotein E gene do not appear to influence the occurrence of frontotemporal degeneration.
- The apoE genotype does not modulate the age at onset in German patients diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration.
- These findings suggest apoE polymorphism is not a significant risk factor for FTD in this specific population.