Apolipoprotein E allelotype is associated with neuropathological findings in Alzheimer's disease

In a consecutive hospital-based autopsy series, we examined the relationship between apolipoprotein E (apoE) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and investigated the clinicopathological relationship in AD. The study population included 99 patients (mean age 81 years) with AD-related neuropathological findings at death, of whom 83 were diagnosed with AD according to the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) classification, and a control group of patients without neurodegenerative disease (n = 1429). The patients were apoE genotyped and the density of β-amyloid senile plaques, neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles was estimated in the cortex and hippocampus. The utility of immunohistochemical staining using an antibody directed against apoE4 in paraffin-embedded tissue was also evaluated. Among patients with “definite AD” according to CERAD, 65 % were e4 carriers, compared to 32 % among controls (p