Butyrylcholinesterase K variant and apolipoprotein E4 genes do not act in synergy in Finnish late-onset Alzheimer's disease patients

Examination of the allelic frequency of the butyrylcholinesterase K (BChE-K) variant gene revealed no increase among Finnish late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients either as a whole or among a subset of AD patients carrying the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE4). In contrast, BChE-K allele frequency was significantly reduced in the Finnish AD patient group under 75 years of age carrying the ApoE4 allele when compared to the non-demented controls (chi(2), P < 0.05). The proportion of subjects with both BChE-K and ApoE4 alleles was 14% and 41% in AD and control groups, respectively (chi(2), P < 0.01; odds-ratio 0.22, 95% CI 0.07-0.71). These results are in contrast to a previous study on English AD patients, in which the genes for BChE-K and ApoE4 were suggested to act in synergy. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. AII rights reserved.