Depression in Alzheimer’s Disease Might Be Associated with Apolipoprotein E ε4 Allele Frequency in Women but Not in Men

Abstract

The association between depression and apolipoprotein E (apoE) was investigated in 137 out-patients with Alzheimer’s disease. An ICD-10 diagnosis of depression was found in 21.1% of all patients. There was a good correlation between clinicians’ diagnoses and blinded rating by the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (r = 0.70). In male patients, apoE 3/3 was detected in 34.1%, 3/4 in 38.6%, 4/4 in 13.6%, 2/4 in 6.8% and 2/3 in 6.8% of cases. In female patients, apoE 3/3 was detected in 35.5%, 3/4 in 45.2%, 4/4 in 12.8%, 2/4 in 3.2% and 2/3 in 3.2% of cases. When analyzing the variance of gene dosage effect, the frequency of the apoE Ε4 allele was significantly increased in depressed women but not in men. This effect remained stable in stepwise regression analysis when depression as the dependent variable was tested against the independent variables age, age of onset, duration of disease, cognitive status and years of school education.

APOE genotype predicts depression in women with Alzheimer's disease: a retrospective study

“…These findings are consistent with those of Müller-Thomsen (2002) who indicated that the APOE ε4 genotype may be more highly associated with depression in AD for women but not men. Our finding is also supported by a study showing an increased rate of the APOE ε4 genotype in late-onset depressed women with AD relative to men (Steffens et al, 1997) as well as a finding that family history of depression may be a risk factor for depression in AD, but only in women (Lyketsos, Tune, Pearlson, Steele, 1996).…”

The Evolution of Personality in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

“…However, among ApoE ε4 noncarriers, the MCI subjects had lower premorbid and current neuroticism and higher premorbid and current extraversion scores compared to the control subjects, whereas the MCI patients and the control subjects who were ApoE ε4 carriers obtained similar scores. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting on ApoE status in relation to personality traits in MCI, although there are a number of investigations into BPS as state markers in AD showing contradictory findings as to their association with the ApoE ε4 genotype [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Our results may be a chance finding given the preliminary nature of this study.…”

“…Apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (ApoE ε4) and tau protein were associated with MCI conversion to AD [15,16,17]. Moreover, BPS as state markers in AD have been found to be associated with ApoE ε4 and less with ApoE ε3 genotypes [18,19,20,21,22,23], although some studies contradict such findings [24,25]. We have found no studies reporting on ApoE status in relation to BPS and personality traits in MCI.…”

Resilience and mental health

“…Analysis of positive associations between depression and the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele has suggested that men may have resilience against this potential risk factor (Müller-Thomsen et al, 2002) which may include pathways such as capacity for intensive aerobic activity (Russo-Neustadt, Ha, Ramirez, & Kesslak, 2001;Southwick, Vythilingam, & Charney, 2005). Other studies have suggested that the majority of people who have genetic variants associated with higher risk of psychopathology may obtain or develop bio-and psycho-social resilience (Freedman, 2008).…”