Influence of multiple APOE genetic variants on cognitive function in a cohort of older men – results from the Normative Aging Study

BACKGROUND: APOE is the biomarker with the greatest known influence on cognitive function; however, the effect of complex haplotypes involving polymorphisms rs449647, rs405509, rs440446, rs429358 and rs7412 has never been studied in older populations. METHODS: We evaluated APOE polymorphisms using multiplex PCR for genotyping and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to evaluate cognitive function in 819 individuals from VA Normative Aging Study. RESULTS: Combinatorial analysis of all polymorphisms and individual analysis of polymorphisms rs449647, rs405509, rs440446 and rs7412 did not show any association with cognitive performance. Polymorphism rs429358 was associated with better cognitive performance (odds of MMSE ≤ 25 = 0.63, 95% CI 0.42-0.95; p = 0.03) in the oldest subsample (5(th) quintile of age) (odds of MMSE ≤ 25 = 0.34; 95% CI 0.13-0.86; p = 0.02). APOE allele ε4 was also associated with better cognitive performance (odds of MMSE ≤ 25 = 0.61, 95% CI 0.40-0.94; p = 0.02), also in the oldest subsample (odds of MMSE ≤ 25 = 0.35, 95% CI 0.14-0.90; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a beneficial effect of polymorphism rs429358 in the oldest men. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-014-0223-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.