Association between apolipoprotein E polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease in Koreans.

We analyzed the aplolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes of 110 probable AD patients and 226 cognitively normal controls in Koreans. The APOE epsilon4 allele was more prevalent in both early- and late-onset AD patients (P < 0.01) than in controls. The odds for the APOE epsilon4-heterozygous subjects were 2.7 (95% CI = 1.6-4.5), and those for the APOE epsilon4-homozygous subjects were 17.4 (95% CI = 2.0-147.3). But the odds were not uniform across age groups, and were higher in women than in men. Although the APOE epsilon2 allele frequency did not differ by diagnosis, the patients carrying an APOE epsilon2 allele showed delayed age-at-onset (P = 0.02). In conclusion, the APOE e4 allele increased the risk for AD in dose-dependent manner, and the APOE epsilon4-conferred AD risk was age- and sex-dependent in Koreans.