Apolipoprotein E genotype and noncognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease

Background: The apolipoprotein E (ApoE) epsilon 4 allele confers significan t risk for Alzheimer's disease and is associated with a greater amyloid bur den in the brain. Future treatments may target molecular mechanisms associa ted with this allele, and it is important to define any phenotypic characte ristics that correspond to this genotype. We sought to clarify the relation ship between ApoE status and noncognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease p atients. Methods: Possible and probable Alzheimer's disease patients from a clinical trial (n = 605) were assessed with the 10-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory cross-sectionally prior to treatment, and their ApoE genotype was determine d. Among the population studied the following numbers with specific genotyp es were studied: 23-2/3, 17-2/4, 209-3/3, 288-3/4, 68-4/4, Results: When correlations were controlled for the patient's level of cogni tive impairment, there was no relationship between epsilon 4 dose and any o f the IO noncognitive symptoms assessed, including psychosis, mood changes, and personality alterations. Conclusions: Among patients with comparable disease severity, the epsilon 4 allele does not confer additional psychiatric morbidity. (C) 1999 Society of Biological Psychiatry.