BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Ethnicity and Alzheimer's disease

March 16, 1998 8:00 AM UTC

The relation between disease risk and genotype has received a boost from the story of the apolipoprotein E e4 (ApoE e4) allele, which scientists have associated with incidence of Alzheimers disease (AD). A new study of the comparative risks of 1079 people from various ethnic groups who have or do not have the allele has further strengthened the association, lending more support for the potential for pharmacogenomic approaches to disease treatment.

An article in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that ApoE e4's effects may differ by ethnic group. The study showed that while the presence of an e4 allele is a significant determinant of risk for whites, African Americans and Hispanics have an increased frequency of AD regardless of their ApoE genotype...