Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in patients with Alzheimer disease

The aims of this study were to identify subsyndromes of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in Alzheimer disease (AD), and to investigate whether the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene confers a risk of distinct BPSD subsyndromes. BPSD of 96 patients with AD were assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Factor analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation was used to construct the BPSD subsyndromes. ApoE genotypes were determined using the TaqMan technology. The results showed that the 5 subsyndromes can be determined, including: agitation/aggression-delusion, euphoria-disinhibition, depression-apathy, hallucination-nighttime behavior, and appetite. ApoE ε4 carriers had higher factor scores in the agitation/aggression-delusion subsyndrome. We demonstrated that ApoE ε4 confers a higher risk for the subsyndrome of agitation/aggression delusion in AD.