comparing pcr with high-resolution melting analysis for apolipoprotein e genotyping in alzheimer's: a case-control study

Introduction: the apolipoprotein e (apoe) genotype has a heterogeneous distributionthroughout the world. the present study aimed to characterize the apoe genotype (rs429358,rs7412) in healthy individuals compared with alzheimer cases in kerman, southeastern iran,by two standard mutation scanning methods.methods: in this case-control study, 90 alzheimer patients as a case group and 90 healthyindividuals as a control group were examined. apoe genotyping was carried out using highresolutionmelting (hrm) analysis assay and multiplex tetra-primer amplification-refractorymutation system polymerase chain reaction (t-arms pcr) techniques.results: in contrast to multiplex t-arms pcr, hrm analysis was not efficient in rs7412genotyping. the results of multiplex t-arms showed that ε2ε3 genotype (p=0.006, oddratio [or]=0.119) and ε2 allele (p=0.004, or=0.129) were more prevalent in the controlgroup compared with the case ones, whereas ε4 allele was associated with borderline risk ofalzheimer disease (p=0.099, or=1.76).conclusion: we concluded that multiplex t-arms pcr could be considered as a betteroption than hrm analysis for apoe genotyping in terms of speed, accuracy, simplicity,and cheapness in large-scale use. also, the present study revealed that ε2 ε3 genotype and ε2allele are protective against alzheimer whereas the ε4 allele cannot be strongly consideredas alzheimer genetic risk factor in kerman, iran. the results may help to choose a bettertechnique for apoe genotyping.