5-hydroxytryptamine 6 receptor (5-HT6) receptor and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphisms in patients with Alzheimer's disease in the Basque Country

Although there is considerable evidence implicating apolipoprotein E (ApoE) epsilon4 in the development of the Alzheimer's disease (AD), additional factors are also known to be involved. Thus, an association has been described between C267T polymorphism of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 6 receptor (5-HT6) receptor gene and AD. This case-control study analyzes the ApoE and 5-HT6 receptor polymorphisms in 173 cases and 102 age and sex matched controls from Araba and Bizkaia (The Basque Country, Spain). The analysis of ApoE showed the frequencies of epsilon4 allele to be significantly higher in AD patients (0.292) than in the controls (0.083). When 5-HT6 receptor polymorphism was analyzed, a greater frequency of 267C allele was observed in AD patients than in controls, though the difference was not statistically significant. Likewise regarding ApoE epsilon4 status, no statistically significant difference was observed. In conclusion, the association of ApoE epsilon4 to AD in a sample of patients from the Basque Country is confirmed, though the association to C267T polymorphism of the 5-HT6 receptor has not been observed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.