Role of APOE Gene in Bone Mineral Density and Incidence of Bone Fractures in Brazilian Postmenopausal Women

Osteoporosis is one of the major diseases that affects mostly postmenopausal women. Despite being a multifactorial disease, some genes have been shown to play an important role in osteoporosis. Bone mineral density (BMD) is still largely used to diagnose it, although many other biomarkers are used to better follow the disease onset. It has been shown that the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene could be a biomarker for risk of fractures as well as to predict lower BMD in patients with osteoporosis. The human APOE gene encodes 3 protein isoforms called ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4, resulting in 4 possible genotypes, because they are a product of a single nucleotide polymorphism found in this gene.

Source: Journal of Clinical Densitometry - August 4, 2017 Category: Radiology Authors: Leticia S. Souza, Neuza Felix Rochette, Diego Fran ça Pedrosa, Rafaella P. Lopes Magnago, Teodiano B. Freire Filho, Fernando Luiz H. Vieira, Irani do Carmo F. Fin, Sergio R. Eis, Jones B. Graceli, Leticia B.A. Rangel, Ian V. Silva Source Type: research