Association Of Apolipoprotein E Genetic Polymorphisms With Geriatric Depression

BackgroundGeriatric depression(GD) is a common mood disorder occuring in the specific populations who are elders60years old or above, including primary depression,which also includes those who have had onset of illness in adulthood, and secondary depression. There is evidence suggesting that the vulnerability factors of GD may be genetic factors.Recently the researches of the association between GD and gene have been concentrated on apolipoprotein E gene(APOE)and so on. It is still unclear, however, whether APOE is the risk factor of GD, and whether APOE polymorphisms affect the cognitive function, the serum lipid and depressive symptoms of the patients.ObjectivesTo study the association of APOE polymorphisms with GD, and the association of APOE with cognition, serum lipid and depression syndromes of the GD patients.Then analyse the factors influencing the congnitive function of the GD patients.Methods1Detect the the two SNP sites(rs429358and rs7412) of GD group(120cases) and healthy volunteers group(80cases) by direct DNA sequencing technique, then analyse the association of APOE polymorphisms with GD.2Adopt Man-Machine System Engineering (MMSE) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) to measure the cognitive function and depressive symptoms of all objects. Detect the level of serum lipid by automatic biochemical analyzer.Then analyse whether there is significant difference in cognitive function and serum lipid between the two groups,and whether the APOE polymorphisms are related to the cognitive function, serum lipid and depressive symptoms in the patient group.3Use Logistic multiple regression analysis to discuss the factors influencing the cognitive function of the patients.Results1There are no significant defferences of APOE polymorphisms between the two groups(P>0.05) and between the early-onset and late-onset patients(P>0.05).2Compared with the control group, the GD group has significantly high scores in MMSE total scores, memory scores, attention and computing power scores, recall scores and linguistic competence scores(P<0.05); compared with patients without s4allen, patients with s4allen have significantly high MMSE total scores (P<0.05).3The risk factors of cognitive function of GD patients are ε4, TC and adverse life event. Ranked by the value of the absolute value of the standard regression coefficient-the power of the effect-they are ε4(b’=1.097), adverse life event (b’=1.012) and TC(b’=0.401).4Compared with the control group, the GD group has significantly high level of TC, LDC and APOB(P<0.05); compared with patients without ε4allen, patients with s4allen have significantly high level of TC、LDL(P<0.05).5Compared with patients without ε4allen, patients with ε4allen have significant deferences in factorial structure of HAMD Scale:typical symptoms of those with s4allen are cognitive impairment factor and retardance factor; that of those without ε4allen are somatization factor and weight factor.Conclusions1APOE may not be the risk factor of GD; APOE polymorphisms are not related to the type of the onset of GD.2Most of patients of GD have cognitive impairment; genetic factor—APOEε4is the more important influencing factor in the cognitive impairment of GD patients.3GD patients may have abnormal lipid level; APOEε4may also play an important role in abnormal lipid level of GD.4Patients with different APOE genetypes may have different clinical features.