Apolipoprotein E polymorphism, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia among elderly Finnish men

An association between late-onset Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and the common polymorphic alleles of the gene coding for apolipoprotein E, ɛ2, ɛ3 and ɛ4, was assessed in a population sample of 393 elderly Finnish men aged 70 to 89 years. Of them, 7%, suffered Alzheimer's disease and 3% had vascular dementia. Among those who suffered Alzheimer's disease, there was a statistically significant excess of the ɛ4 allele. No such an association was observed between the apolipoprotein E alleles and vascular dementia. We conclude that the apolipoprotein E polymorphism confers information about a risk of Alzheimer's disease in this population sample of elderly Finnish men.