Apo E polymorphism and, notably, the apo E4 allele cannot be universally considered as a particular risk factor for cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients.
The Greek Cypriot population will be studied further for elucidating the effect(s) and the role of APOE in cardiovascular disease and the APOE4 allele as a possible metabolic factor affecting the rate of expression of both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
Clinical and autoptical studies have suggested a predisposing role of the allele E4 of apolipoprotein E (apoE) in the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
These data demonstrate that the apoE4 allele and the AA genotype of the beta-fibrinogen G/A-455 polymorphism occur significantly more frequently in patients with CVD resulting from stenosis of large, brain-supplying vessels.
Apo E polymorphism has been related to significant modifications of lipoprotein profile, as well as to the incidence of different pathologies including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia.
Apolipoprotein E and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genetic polymorphisms in relation to other risk factors for cardiovascular disease in UK Caucasians and Black South Africans.
Cognitive function assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, the Benton Visual Retention Test, APOE epsilon4 allele frequency and cardiovascular disease (CVD) health status.
To clarify further the relationship between ApoE alleles polymorphism and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in demented and cognitively impaired patients, we examined the ApoE phenotypes in a sample of 280 patients: 155 with AD, 21 with VaD, 32 with mixed dementia (MD), 45 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) but without CVD, and 27 in which vascular disease was the most probable cause of cognitive decline [vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI)].
To examine the association between subclinical CVD and decline in cognitive functioning in the elderly and to examine effect modification by the APOE genotype of the association between subclinical disease and cognitive decline.
Odds ratios (ORs) for the association between APOE epsilon4/* and both AD and dementia were estimated and adjusted incrementally for the effect of age and premorbid intelligence, cholesterol, other risk factors for vascular disease, and EKG evidence of cardiovascular disease.
These data indicate that the-219GT polymorphism of the APOE regulatory region emerges as a new genetic susceptibility risk factor for MI and constitutes another common risk factor for both neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.
Although these data are hardly definitive, they lend strong support for the possibility that in the near future individuals will be directed to what might be their optimal therapy for improving plasma lipoprotein-lipid profiles and cardiovascular disease risk based partially on APO E genotype.
Several studies based on different populations worldwide have described an association between cardiovascular diseases and genetic variations in the apolipoprotein E (A:POE), angiotensinogen (A:GT), angiotensin receptor type 1 (A:T1R), and angiotensin-converting enzyme (A:CE) genes.
Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype influence on the relationship between dietary risk factors for cardiovascular disease and blood serum lipid levels was investigated in 132 free-living individuals participating in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study.
In addition, we have confirmed that the ApoE epsilon 4 allele occurs frequently in late-onset AD and we have found similar association in cognitively impaired individuals without clinical CVD.
Resulting from these associations, the APOE locus has been found to be a significant genetic determinant of cardiovascular disease in the general population.
The final conclusion on whether APOE/epsilon 4 contributes to the risk for cardiovascular disease will be clarified by analysis of the cumulative incidence, which will be obtained in the future Suita Study.
Furthermore, they emphasize that variation at the APOE locus has a higher impact on the risk of dementia than on the risk of cardiovascular disease in old age.