APOE epsilon4 is associated with impaired verbal learning in patients with MS.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of APOE epsilon4 on different cognitive domains in a population of Greek patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

METHODS

A total of 125 patients with MS and 43 controls were included in this study and underwent neuropsychological assessment with Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery. All patients with MS were genotyped for APOE. The effect of APOE epsilon4 on different cognitive domains was investigated.

RESULTS

Fifty-one percent of patients with MS were cognitively impaired. E4 carriers had a sixfold increase in the relative risk of impairment in verbal learning vs noncarriers (OR 6.28, 95% CI 1.74 to 22.69). This effect was domain-specific and was not observed in other cognitive domains assessed by the battery.

CONCLUSION

We found an association of APOE epsilon4 with impaired verbal learning in patients with multiple sclerosis.