APOLIPOPROTEIN-E POLYMORPHISM, ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND VASCULAR DEMENTIA AMONG ELDERLY FINNISH MEN

An association between late-onset Alzheimer's disease, vascular dement ia and the common polymorphic alleles of the gene coding for apolipopr otein E, epsilon 2, epsilon 3 and epsilon 4, was assessed in a populat ion sample of 393 elderly Finnish men aged 70 to 89 years. Of them, 7% suffered Alzheimer's disease and 3% had vascular dementia. Among thos e who suffered Alzheimer's disease, there was a statistically signific ant excess of the epsilon 4 allele. No such an association was observe d between the apolipoprotein E alleles and vascular dementia. We concl ude that the apolipoprotein E polymorphism confers information about a risk of Alzheimer's disease in this population sample of elderly Finn ish men.