APOLIPOPROTEIN-E GENOTYPING IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are charact erized by progressive neuronal loss and microvacuolization, although w ith different distributions of cortical involvement. In contrast to AD there is no amyloid, senile plaques or tangles in FTD. The involvemen t of chromosome 19 in AD has been associated with apoliprotein E (ApoE ) and the epsilon 4 gene frequency has been related to increased risk and early onset of AD. Our analysis of frequency of the ApoE alleles i n 38 patients with AD, 21 patients with FTD and 29 normal controls ind icates an association of both AD and FTD with an increased frequency o f the epsilon 4 allele and in AD also with homozygosity for epsilon 4. Our results might indicate that ApoE epsilon 4 is an important aggrav ating and pathoplastic factor in the presence of genetic and other det erminants for the development of AD or FTD. A significantly higher eps ilon 2 frequency in our FTD material compared to AD and normals might also indicate a connection with the distribution of cortical degenerat ion.