Apolipoprotein E epsilon 3 allele is not a risk factor of schizophrenia: Astudy of 314 Japanese patients

The association between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles and schizophrenia h as remained controversial. A recent report claiming that ApoE epsilon 3 Tai wan Chinese carriers have an increased risk of schizophrenia prompted us to investigate the allele frequency in a large group of Japanese schizophreni c patients. Serum samples were obtained from 314 schizophrenic patients and 188 controls in Japan and examined using isoelectric focusing/immunoblotti ng, There were no significant differences in ApoE allele frequencies betwee n schizophrenic patients and controls and in the odds ratios for schizophre nia among the epsilon 2, epsilon 3 and epsilon 4 carriers. In contrast to t he report from Taiwan, our findings and results of the majority of previous studies suggest no effects of ApoE alleles on the development of schizophr enia. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.