However, there are a number of risk factors which have been identified, including age, education, head injury and genetic predisposition. A brief review of the study of genetics will assist in understanding the discussion of the APOE gene. We as humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, one pair from each parent.
Genes are chromosomes and are composed of alleles.
Alleles combine in different combinations, dependent upon which alleles we inherit from each of our parents, and determine our genotype for a particular trait. A, B, O. APOE is a susceptibility gene for Alzheimer's disease. The APOE gene, located on chromosome 19, provides the information that forms apolipoprotein E, a protein that is involved in fatty acid metabolism and transport. Each person receives a combination of any two of these alleles, eg. The difference in the combination of these alleles and their implications in Alzheimer's disease will now be discussed in more detail.