Frequencies of apolipoprotein E alleles in depressed patients undergoing hemodialysis--a case-control study.

Objective: To explore the relation between the frequencies of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles and the occurrence of depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis in a Chinese population.

Methods: We examined the ApoE alleles in a sample of 288 subjects: 72 patients with depression under hemodialysis, 74 patients without depression under hemodialysis, 75 patients with depression under nondialytic treatment and 67 patients without depression under nondialytic treatment. The depression state was assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale.