We performed (1)H-MRS of the central portion of both hemispheres and APOE genotyping in 72 patients (52 women and 20 men; mean +/- SD age, 34.8 +/- 8.8 years) with clinically definite relapsing-remitting MS.
An analysis of disease progression in 614 patients with MS from 379 families indicated that APOE-4 carriers are more likely to be affected with severe disease (P=.03), whereas a higher proportion of APOE-2 carriers exhibit a mild disease course (P=.02).
To resolve these discrepancies, we examined common sequence variation in six candidate genes residing in a 380-kb genomic region surrounding and including the APOE locus for an association with MS severity.
The authors examined the influence of APOE and human leukocyte antigen-DRB1-DQB1 polymorphisms on the course of multiple sclerosis in 871 patients, 773 with relapsing and 98 with primary progressive disease, and 348 control subjects.
Results for the e4/e2 alleles of the ApoE gene as markers of susceptibility, clinical and radiological progression, and cognitive deterioration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are contradictory.
Our data suggest that in women with MS carrying the ApoE E4 isoform, cigarette smoking may have a protective influence on disease progression and accumulation of disability.
In Kuwaitis, a population with low MS prevalence, no statistically significant associations between APOE genetic polymorphism and susceptibility to MS could be established, but there was a trend towards a lower APOE2 frequency with MS and towards increased frequency of APOE4 in female patients and with severe disease.
Despite its importance in lipid transport and atherosclerosis pathogenesis, apoE is associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson disease, and autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.
The relationship between ApoE and MPO genes' polymorphism and the MS activity as well as the defect of remyelination (diffuse demyelination) and brain atrophy on MRI were analysed.
Although the low rate of epsilon4 allele in Japan should be taken into consideration, our results showed no relation between APOE gene polymorphisms and Japanese patients with MS.
Accelerated brain tissue loss and a higher proportion of lesions evolving into BH therefore provide magnetic resonance imaging evidence for more pronounced tissue destruction in MS patients with APOE-epsilon4.