ACE, MTHFR, FACTOR-V-LEIDEN, AND APOE POLYMORPHISMS IN PATIENTS WITH VASCULAR AND ALZHEIMERS DEMENTIA

Background and Purpose-There is a growing interest in the use of genet ic markers in the differential diagnosis of dementia, In the current s tudy we examined the usefulness of genetic risk factors for vascular d isease as markers for vascular dementia (VD), Methods-The groups inclu ded 41 patients with VD, 49 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and 40 age-matched control subjects without dementia. These pati ents were genotyped for vascular disease-associated polymorphisms in t he genes coding for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), angio tensin-converting enzyme (ACE), factor V Leiden (FVL), and a common ge netic risk factor for AD, apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE epsilon 4). Results-There was no significant association between ACE, MTHFR, and FVL genotypes with VD whether compared with subjects with AD or with c ontrol subjects. There was a higher frequency of APOE epsilon 4 allele s in patients with AD (30%, P=0.016) and VD (26%, P=0.07) compared wit h control subjects (15%), Conclusions-VD is not associated with the ge netic risk factors for vascular disease examined in this study, indica ting that the pathogenesis of VD may differ from other vascular diseas es.