BUTYRYLCHOLINESTERASE K-VARIANT AND CEREBRAL AMYLOID ANGIOPATHY

Background and Purpose-Cholinesterases are found histochemically in th e vessels affected with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). A gene for the K variant of butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE-K) may be associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). In search of genetic risk factor s for CAA, we investigated the association of BCHE-K with CAA. Methods -The association between the severity of CAA and BCHE-K was investigat ed in 155 autopsy cases of the elderly, including 48 patients with AD. Results-There was no significant association of BCHE-K with the sever ity of CAA in the total, AD, or non-AD cases. Status of the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E gene did not influence the results. Conclus ions-Our results may suggest that BCHE-K is not a definitive risk fact or for CAA in the elderly, although further study with larger samples is necessary to confirm this.