Gene dose of apolipoprotein E type 4 allele and the risk of Alzheimer's disease in late onset families

E H Corder; A M Saunders; W J Strittmatter; D E Schmechel; P C Gaskell; G W Small; A D Roses; J L Haines; M A Pericak-Vance

doi:10.1126/science.8346443

Gene dose of apolipoprotein E type 4 allele and the risk of Alzheimer's disease in late onset families

Science. 1993 Aug 13;261(5123):921-3. doi: 10.1126/science.8346443.

Authors

E H Corder¹, A M Saunders, W J Strittmatter, D E Schmechel, P C Gaskell, G W Small, A D Roses, J L Haines, M A Pericak-Vance

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medicine, Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.

PMID: 8346443
DOI: 10.1126/science.8346443

Abstract

The apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (APOE-epsilon 4) is genetically associated with the common late onset familial and sporadic forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Risk for AD increased from 20% to 90% and mean age at onset decreased from 84 to 68 years with increasing number of APOE-epsilon 4 alleles in 42 families with late onset AD. Thus APOE-epsilon 4 gene dose is a major risk factor for late onset AD and, in these families, homozygosity for APOE-epsilon 4 was virtually sufficient to cause AD by age 80.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Alleles*
Alzheimer Disease / genetics*
Alzheimer Disease / metabolism
Alzheimer Disease / mortality
Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
Apolipoprotein E4
Apolipoproteins E / genetics*
Apolipoproteins E / physiology
Female
Gene Frequency*
Genotype
Homozygote
Humans
Linkage Disequilibrium
Male
Risk Factors
Survival Rate

Substances

Amyloid beta-Peptides
Apolipoprotein E4
Apolipoproteins E