Genetics

ACE

APOE

1

Description
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a gene mapped to chromosome 19q13.2. It produces a protein called apo-epsilon. Working with another protein (apo-beta), apo-epsilon modulates the uptake of triglyceride rich lipoproteins (Davignon et al., 1988).

There are three slightly different versions or alleles of the APOE gene: e2, e3 and e4. The e3 allele is the most frequent in general population and e4 allele is much more common among Alzheimer's patients.

Significance of Measurement
Studies have shown high risks of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease among those with the APOE4 gene (Corder et al., 1993; Evans et al., 1997; Fitzpatrick et al., 2004; Mayeux et al., 1993; Poirier et al., 1993; Saunders et al., 1993). The APOE4 gene is also known to be associated with cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and coronary artery disease (Leon et al., 2004; Schmitz et al., 2001). The presence of apolipoprotein e2 genotype has been related to familial hyperlipidemia (Mozas et al,, 2003).

Method of Measurement
APOE is assessed using blood plasma.

References
· Corder, E.H., Saunders, A.M., Strittmatter, W.J., Schmechel, D.E., Gaskell, P.C., Small, G.W., et al. (1993). Gene dose of apolipoprotein E type 4 allele and the risk of Alzheimer's disease in late onset families. Science, 261(5123), 921-923.
· Davignon, J., Gregg, R.E., & Sing, C.F. (1988). Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis, 8, 1-21.
· Evans, D., Beckett, L., Field, T., Feng, L., Albert, M., Alvert, M., et al. (1997). Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 and incidence of Alzheimer disease in a community population of older persons. Journal of the American Medical Association, 277, 822-824.
· Fitzpatrick, A.L., Kuller, L.H., Ives, D.G., Lopez, O.L., Jagust, W., Breitner, J., et al. (2004). Incidence and prevalence of dementia in the Cardiovascular Health Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52(2), 195-204.
· Leon, A.S., Togashi, K., Rankinen, T., Despres, J., Rao, D.C., Skinner, J., et al. (2004). Association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism with blood lipids and maximal oxygen uptake in the sedentary state and after exercise training in the Heritage Family Study. Metabolism, 53(1), 108-116.
· Mayeux, R., Stern, Y., Ottman, R., Tatemichi, T., Tang, M., Maestre, G., et al. (1993). The apolipoprotein 4 allele in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 34, 752-754.
· Mozas, P.C., Castillo, S., Reyes, D., Tejedor, F. Civeira, F., Garcia-Alvarez, I., et al. (2003). Apolipoprotein E genotype is not associated with cardiovascular disease in heterozygous subjects with famillial hypercholesterolemia. American Heart Journal, 145(6), 999-1005.
· Poirier, J., Davignon, J., Bouthillier, D., Kogan, S., Bertrand, P., & Gauthier, S. (1993). Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, 342, 697-699.
· Saunders, A.M., Strittmatter, W.J., Schmechel, D., George-Hyslop, P.H., Pericak-Vance, M.A., Joo, S.H., et al. (1993). Association of apolipoprotein E allele 4 with late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 43, 1467-1472.
· Schmitz, K.H., Schreiner, P. J., Jacobs Jr., D., Leon, A.S., Liu, K., Howard, B., et al. (2001). Independent and interactive effects of apolipoprotein E phenotype and cardiorespiratory fitness on plasma lipids. Annals of Epidemiology, 11(2), 94-103.
· Please refer to the National Library of Medicine, Genetic Home Reference, website for details. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene=apoe;jsessionid=A101E1F9FC1CA47AE16B0D5F06E47CDD

IL6 Polymorphism

CRP Polymorphysm