Influence of the rs1080985 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the CYP2D6 Gene and APOE Polymorphism on the Response to Donepezil Treatment in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease in China

• Main Authors: Mengyuan Liu, Ying Zhang, Ya Ruth Huo, Shuling Liu, Shuai Liu, Junwei Wang, Change Wang, Jinhuan Wang, Yong Ji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2014-11-01
• Series: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra
• Subjects: Polymorphism; Alzheimer’s disease; Chinese population; Donepezil; CYP2D6; APOE
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/367596
• ISSN: 1664-5464

Background/Aim: Recent data have indicated that the rs1080985 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 and the common apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene may affect the response to donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated this association in Chinese patients with mild-to-moderate AD. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, analyses of CYP2D6 and APOE were conducted in 208 native Chinese patients with mild-to-moderate AD. All patients were treated with donepezil 5 mg/day for 6 months, and the response to treatment was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination. Results: No significant differences between responders (68.9%) and nonresponders (31.1%) to donepezil treatment (6 months' duration) were observed in the distribution of the CYP2D6 rs1080985 SNP, common APOE polymorphism or a combination of the two. Conclusions: Our results suggest that neither the CYP2D6 nor the APOE polymorphism influences the 6-month response to donepezil treatment in a Chinese population with AD.