The effect of ApoE e4 on blood pressure in patients with and without depression

Knut A Hestad; Knut Engedal; Jon Elling Whist; Per G Farup

doi:10.2147/NDT.S106933

The effect of ApoE e4 on blood pressure in patients with and without depression

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016 Jun 14:12:1365-70. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S106933. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Knut A Hestad¹, Knut Engedal², Jon Elling Whist³, Per G Farup⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Public Health, Hedmark University College, Elverum, Norway.
² Norwegian Center for Aging and Health, Vestfold Health Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.
³ Department of Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway; Department of Medical Biochemistry, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Lillehammer, Norway.
⁴ Department of Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway; Unit for Applied Clinical Research, Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is considered an independent risk factor for hypertension, particularly for people with recurrent episodes or a long history of depression. Another risk factor for cardiovascular disease is the Apolipoprotein E e4 allele (ApoE e4). The aim of this study was to examine how ApoE e4 was related to blood pressure (BP) in patients with depression and a control group.

Methods: A total of 78 patients, 49 with depression and 29 without, all recruited from the same hospital, underwent ApoE e genotyping (24 had at least one ApoE e4 allele) and examination of BP.

Results: In the depression group, but not in the control group, both systolic and diastolic BP were significantly higher in patients with ApoE e4 than in those without. The effect of ApoE e4 on BP differed significantly between the two groups.

Conclusion: Our findings showed that the effect of ApoE e4 on BP differed between the patients with depression and the control group. In patients with depression, ApoE e4 was associated with an increase in BP. We suggest that patients with depression and ApoE e4-positive status are particularly prone to develop BP elevation.

Keywords: ApoE; ApoE e4; blood pressure; depression; genotyping.