J Korean Neurol Assoc.
2001 Jan;19(1):19-23.
Apolipoprotein E4 Genotype in Patient with IschemicCerebrovascular Disease in Korea: A Preliminary Study
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurology, The Catholic University of Korea.
- 2Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea.
- 3Department of Clinical Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 allele is over-represented in Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease. We investigated whether specific APOE polymorphism is a risk factor for ischemic cerebrovas-cular disease in the Korean population.
METHODS
We compared 98 patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease with 209 controls similar in age and dwelling areas. APOE genotypes were determined by restriction fragment-length poly-morphism analysis. The association of the APOE with: stroke subtypes, white matter hyperintensities, lipid profiles, and potential vascular risk factors, including: age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, lipid disorders, smoking habit, cardiac diseases, presence of past history and family history of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, was examined.
RESULTS
Overall, patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease had no difference in APOE allele frequency with controls (p>0.05). Also, neither stroke subtypes nor white matter high signal intensities were associated with APOE polymorphism (p>0.05). APOE epsilon4 carriers exhibited more frequent personal stroke histories compared with non-epsilon4 subjects (p<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggests that the APOE epsilon4 is not associated with ischemic cerebrovascular disease in the Korean population. However, an association between APOE epsilon4 and personal history supports the possibility that the APOE is a susceptibility locus for the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. (J Korean Neurol Assoc 19(1):19~23, 2001