Significant association of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR) rs3846662 and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) rs7895833 and apolipoprotein E (APOE) hypermethylation with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Abstract

Our study investigated the association of five genes with MCI in the Xinjiang Uygur population in China. In addition, we also analyzed the association between APOE methylation and MCI.Forty-three MCI and 125 controls were included in the present study. Genotyping was done by Sanger sequencing. DNA methylation assay was done using quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP).The distribution of HMGCR rs3846662 allele frequencies was significantly different between the MCI group and the control group (P = .04), especially in women (P = .032). Subgroup analysis showed that there was a statistically significant association of HMGCR rs3846662 with MCI in the non-APOE ε4 group (P = .024), especially in the females with non-APOE ε4. Similarly, HMGCR rs3846662 genotype and allele frequency in the ApoE E2 protein group were significantly different in the MCI group and the control group (genotype P = .021; allele P = .007). In addition, SIRT1 rs7895833 genotype frequency in the APOE ε4 group was found to be significantly different between the MCI and the control group (P = .005). We also observed a significant association of SIRT1 rs7895833 with MCI in the ApoE E4 protein subgroup (P = .005). In addition, APOE methylation levels were significantly different between the MCI group and the control group (P = .021), especially in men (P = .006). Subgroup analysis showed that APOE methylation levels were significantly associated with MCI in the non-APOE ε4 group (P = .009), especially in men (P = .015).This study found a significant association of HMGCR rs3846662 with MCI in females independent of APOE ε4. In contrast, we revealed that the association of SIRT1 rs7895833 with MCI was dependent on with APOE ε4. We also showed that hypermethylation of APOE in MCI was independent of APOE ε4.