Association of APOE polymorphisms and stressful life events with dementia in a Pakistani population

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 570; pp. 42 - 46
• Main Authors: Chaudhry, M., Hasnain, S., Snitz, B.E., Wang, X., Rosenthal, S., Demirci, F.Y., Kamboh, M.I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 06.06.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; APOE; Apolipoproteins E - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Dementia; Dementia - etiology; Dementia - genetics; Dementia - psychology; Disease Susceptibility; Female; Genetic Association Studies; Humans; Life Change Events; Male; Pakistan; Polymorphism, Genetic; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Stressful life events; Pakistan; Pakistan; APOE; Dementia; Stressful life events
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2014.04.008

•APOE*4 allele is associated with increased risk of dementia in Pakistani population.•Stressful life events are also associated with dementia risk in Pakistani population.•No significant interaction was observed between APOE*4 and stress in Pakistani population. Dementia is a major public health problem worldwide. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major form of dementia and the APOE*4 allele is an established genetic risk factor for AD. Similarly, stressful life events are also associated with dementia. The objective of this study was to examine the association of APOE*4 and stressful life events with dementia in a Pakistani sample, which to our knowledge has not been reported previously. We also tested for an interaction between stressful life events and APOE*4 on dementia risk. A total of 176 subjects (61 cases and 115 controls) were recruited. All cases and healthy controls were interviewed to assess cognition, co-morbidities, history of stressful life events and demographics. Blood genotyping for the APOE polymorphism (E2/E3/E4) was performed. APOE*4 and stressful life events were each independently and significantly associated with the risk of dementia (APOE*4: P=0.00697; stressful life events: P=5.29E−09). However, we did not find a significant interaction between APOE*4 carrier status and stressful life events on risk of dementia (P=0.677). Although the sample size of this study was small, the established association of APOE*4 with dementia was confirmed the first time in a Pakistani sample. Furthermore, stressful life events were also found to be significantly associated with dementia in this population.