Apolipoprotein E allele frequencies in a South African Indian female population

Abstract

Coronary heart disease is common amongst South Africans of Indian (Asian) ancestry. As part of an investigation into risk factors in premenopausal and post‐menopausal Indian nurses, we determined the apolipoprotein E genotype by means of restriction isotyping on 173 healthy nurses between the ages of 25–55 years. The apolipoprotein E allele frequencies on 346 chromosomes were: ε2, 1.2% (95% confidence interval 0.06‐2.66); ε3, 87.6% (95% confidence interval 84.1–91.1 and ε4, 11.3% (95% confidence interval 7.94‐14.60). No ε2/2 homozygotes were encountered. Our results demonstrate an extremely low frequency of the ε2 allele, a low‐normal apo ε4 and a high ε3 allele frequency. It is unlikely that apolipoprotein E polymorphism contributes to the high incidence of coronary heart disease in this population.

Presenilin Gene Predisposes to Late-Onset Degenerative but Not Vascular Dementia: A Comparative Study of PS1 and ApoE Genes in a North Indian Cohort

“…In our study, 4 allele frequency in controls is lowest (0.04) as compared to previous studies including studies on Indian samples (0.07 [50] , 0.085 [34] , 0.09 [37] , 0.10 [51] , 0.11 [52] , 0.13 [53] ). However, the frequency of this allele in degenerative dementia patients (0.15) is in accordance with a Japanese study [42] again being the lowest as compared with other studies [34,36,39,41,50] .…”

Anthropometric indices and dietary intake

“…The APO E"4 allele represents a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease in all the ethnic groups studied, across all ages between 40 and 90 years, in men and in women (Farrer et al, 1997;Gounden et al, 1995).…”

“…Previous studies of apolipoprotein E (APO E) polymorphism in Asian Indians or individuals of Indian ancestry report marginally higher APO Eε4 allele frequencies (Chandra et al, 1998; Vassar et al, 1999). The APO Eε4 allele represents a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease in all the ethnic groups studied, across all ages between 40 and 90 years, in men and in women (Farrer et al, 1997; Gounden et al, 1995).…”