APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Newcomer introductions, personal anecdotes, caregiver issues, lab results, and n=1 experimentation.
Epsilon?
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:19 am

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by Epsilon? »

In the second sentence of that paragraph aren't they are citing allele frequencies? That is for Europeans 14-16%. Then that would make sense with the observed 26% e4 genotype in the table
NF52
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 2772
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:41 am
Location: Eastern U.S.

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by NF52 »

HI Epsilon?
Sorry for the delay in responding to your post. You're correct that the percentage of 23& me customers with ApoE 4 is higher than would be expected based on population studies. For those who want the numbers, here's a slightly reformatted report:
Published studies of people who don’t have Alzheimer’s disease estimate that 13-16% of people of European
descent, 18-23% of people of African American descent, 11-23% of people of Hispanic descent, and 7-14% of people of East Asian descent carry at least one copy of the ε4variant. Among people with Alzheimer’s disease, published studies estimate that 34-41% of people of European descent, 32-42% of people of African American descent, 19-32% of people of Hispanic descent, and 25-30% of people of East Asian descent carry at least one copy of the ε4 variant.
Frequency of the APOE ε4 variant in 23andMe customers
Variant name: ε4
European: 26.02%
African- American 34.10%
Ashkenazi Jewish 21.84%
East Asian 17.39%
Hispanic or Latino 22.44%
South Asian 17.16%

23andMe® Personal Genome Service® (PGS)Genetic Health Risk Reports Package Insert

The insert data also claims that their tests have achieved about 99% accuracy, and they cite that the following "rare mutations" may affect the accuracy: may have rs11542041, rs573658040, or rs543363163. So I think there's a dissertation, or at least master's thesis in here somewhere for some aspiring sociologist or public health policy advocate to figure out what's driving this over-representation: family history of dementia? ancestral curiosity of people in the US whose ancestors came over from Ireland, the UK and northern Europe too long ago to know the family history? The latter was the case in my family; I was the only one who had heard of ApoE 4/4 and never expected to find out I had it, even with family history.
Last edited by NF52 on Tue Jul 10, 2018 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
4/4 and still an optimist!
Epsilon?
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:19 am

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by Epsilon? »

I haven't seen any data that suggests that the statement:

"13-16% of people of European descent, ... carry at least one copy of the ε4variant"

14% is commonly cited as the allele frequency. That's different since each individual will have 2

Here is a link of actual population prevalence: https://www.alz.org/health-care-profess ... icLink.pdf
Epsilon?
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:19 am

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by Epsilon? »

My wife got confirmation of her E4 status through Life Extension and it matched 23 and Me. LE used Kashi lab. You get a few simple sterile swabs that you air dry and return. The Life Extension doctor shows as the ordering physician on the report. The report is several pages giving the result and some reasonable lifestyle and dietary suggestions. Not Recode of course.
Epsilon?
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:19 am

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by Epsilon? »

Here is another link that shows how a 14% allele frequency results in a 26% genotype frequency
http://www.alzgene.org/meta.asp?geneID=83
(numbers base on European heritage since that is my area of interest)
NF52
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 2772
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:41 am
Location: Eastern U.S.

Re: APOE mismatch Ancestry vs 23andMe

Post by NF52 »

Thanks for finding and sharing this.
4/4 and still an optimist!
Post Reply