Apolipoprotein E ( APOE), PARKIN and catechol- O-methyltransferase ( COMT) genes and susceptibility to sporadic Parkinson's disease in Finland

Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic factors modify susceptibility to sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). So far the results of candidate gene studies have been conflicting. It has been suggested that polymorphisms in apolipoprotein E ( APOE), PARKIN and catechol- O-methyltransferase ( COMT) genes might increase the risk of PD. We studied 147 Finnish non-demented patients with sporadic PD and 137 controls. APOE ϵ allele and genotype frequencies in PD patients did not differ significantly from controls. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms of the PARKIN gene and an intronic and an exonic (Val158Met) polymorphism of the COMT gene were studied. None of these polymorphisms showed association with PD in our series. In contrast to reports in oriental populations, our results do not support a major role of APOE, PARKIN and COMT polymorphisms in PD susceptibility in the Finnish population.