Julian L J, Vella L, Frankel D, Minden S L, Oksenberg J R, Mohr D C
Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Mult Scler. 2009 Mar;15(3):311-5. doi: 10.1177/1352458508099478.
The role of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles has received recent attention in depressive disorders, the ApoE epsilon4 conferring greater risk for poorer outcomes, and the ApoE epsilon2 allele providing some protective effects. Depression is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and the role of ApoE alleles is unknown.
To evaluate ApoE alleles in relation to symptoms of depression in a cohort of patients with MS participating in the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis Study (Slifka Study). To examine risk and protection, depressed mood and positive affect were each investigated with respect to the ApoE epsilon4 and ApoE epsilon2 alleles, respectively.
Of the total 101 participants, 22.8% were ApoE epsilon2 carriers and 21.8% were ApoE epsilon4 carriers. Hierarchical linear regression analyses suggested that after controlling for demographics, disease duration, and disability, ApoE epsilon2 significantly predicted increased positive affect (R2Delta=0.05, F(1,94)=5.44, P=0.02) and was associated with decreased severity of depressive symptoms, although this did not reach statistical significance (R2Delta=0.03, F(1,94)=3.44, P=0.06). ApoE epsilon4 did not significantly predict depression status.
The presence of the ApoE epsilon2 allele in this study is suggested to be protective against depressive symptoms in our subsample of patients recruited from the Slifka Study. These findings are consistent with reports in psychiatric populations linking ApoE epsilon2 with decreased incidence of depressive disorders. Further investigation would be warranted to understand the role of ApoE genotypes and risk for depressive symptoms.
载脂蛋白E（ApoE）等位基因在抑郁症中的作用最近受到关注，ApoE ε4等位基因会增加不良预后的风险，而ApoE ε2等位基因则具有一定的保护作用。抑郁症在多发性硬化症（MS）中很常见，ApoE等位基因的作用尚不清楚。
在参与索尼娅·斯利夫卡纵向多发性硬化症研究（斯利夫卡研究）的一组MS患者中，评估ApoE等位基因与抑郁症状的关系。为了研究风险和保护作用，分别针对ApoE ε4和ApoE ε2等位基因，对抑郁情绪和积极情绪进行了调查。
在总共101名参与者中，22.8%是ApoE ε2携带者，21.8%是ApoE ε4携带者。分层线性回归分析表明，在控制了人口统计学、疾病持续时间和残疾因素后，ApoE ε2显著预测了积极情绪的增加（R2变化=0.05，F(1,94)=5.44，P=0.02），并且与抑郁症状严重程度的降低有关，尽管这未达到统计学显著性（R2变化=0.03，F(1,94)=3.44，P=0.06）。ApoE ε4没有显著预测抑郁状态。
在本研究中，ApoE ε2等位基因的存在被认为对我们从斯利夫卡研究中招募的患者亚样本中的抑郁症状具有保护作用。这些发现与精神科人群中关于ApoE ε2与抑郁症发病率降低相关的报告一致。有必要进行进一步调查以了解ApoE基因型的作用和抑郁症状的风险。
