The effects of APOE genotype on age at onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases

APOE genotype influences the age at onset of some neurodegenerative disease s such as AD and the rate of progression in others such as MS. The authors hypothesize that APOE genotype ubiquitously determines the efficacy of neur onal maintenance and repair in these diseases and that the seemingly diverg ent clinical effects are due to the stage of disease at which the diagnosis is made. Early diagnosis facilitates the measurement of effects on disease progression rate, whereas late diagnosis results in a marked effect of APO E genotype on disease onset.