Apolipoprotein E ε4 allele has no effect on age at onset or duration of disease in cases of frontotemporal dementia with Pick- or microvacuolar-type histology

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common cause of presenile dementia. Here we have investigated the frequency of the epsilon 4 allele of the Apolipoprotein (APOE) gene in FTD and in other non-Alzheimer forms of dementia related to FTD such as Motor Neurone disease dementia, semantic dementia, progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. In none of these diagnostic groups did we find a significant increase in the APOE epsilon 4 allelic frequency, compared to population values. Neither did me observe any affects of the epsilon 4 allele upon age at onset or duration of disease. Ne conclude therefore that polymorphic variations in the APOE gene do not modulate either the occurrence or progression of these non-Alzheimer forms of dementia. (C) 2000 Academic Press.