Se. Arnold et al., APOLIPOPROTEIN-E GENOTYPE IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - FREQUENCY, AGE-OF-ONSET,AND NEUROPATHOLOGIC FEATURES, NeuroReport, 8(6), 1997, pp. 1523-1526
Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype has been found to affect the expressi
on of a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. We determined ApoE geno
type frequencies and their relationship to clinical and pathological f
eatures in a diverse cohort of individuals with schizophrenia. There w
ere no differences in ApoE genotype frequencies between schizophrenics
and controls. However, the ApoE epsilon 4 genotype was associated wit
h a younger age of onset of schizophrenia, and in an elderly subsample
, individuals with the epsilon 4 allele more frequently exhibited co-e
xistent dementia and had more neurofibrillary pathology (although none
of the cases met criteria for Alzheimer's disease). This examination
of ApoE in relation to clinical and neurobiological features of schizo
phrenia suggests that it modifies the phenotypic expression of the dis
ease.