Association of the APOE gene variants with depression in type 2 diabetes

The risk of depression among patients with diabetes is higher than the general population. The exact mechanisms linking these two diseases are mostly unknown. Energy metabolism disorders seem to be a shared pathway. One of the key genes playing important roles in energy metabolism-related pathways is the APOE gene. We aimed to investigate the association of the APOE gene variants with depression among Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Three APOE gene alleles and genotypes frequencies (E2, E3, E4) were determined in 244 patients with T2DM (114 with depression and 130 without depression) using the high-resolution melting (HRM) method on the genomic DNA extracted from the patient's peripheral blood.

Apoe4 allele frequency was significantly higher in T2DM patients without depression compared with those with depression (11.9 vs. 2.2%, p-value < 0.0001 and p-value = 0.001, respectively). Conversely, the wild allele apoe3 frequency was significantly higher in T2DM patients with depression (86% vs., 69%, p-value < 0.0001). Apoe4 carrier status was associated with decreased risk of depression in patients with T2DM [OR: 0.19 (0.07-0.53)].

Our results showed that the apoe4 allele and apoe4 carrier status significantly reduced the risk of depression among patients with T2DM. Further studies are needed to unravel the complex role of the APOE gene in depression among patients with diabetes.