Association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A meta-analysis

Some studies have shown the correlation between E4 type of Apolipoprotein E gene and diabetic neuropathy, however, there are contradicting results in recent studies. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association between APOE4 gene and diabetic neuropathy. Database of Pubmed, Wuhan University Library, and Google were searched. A total of 56 studies were screened and 5 studies were selected for quantitative meta- analysis. This meta-analysis was performed to assess heterogeneity and combine results by using software RevMan 5.2. Strength and relationship were calculated as the odds ratio (OR) with a confidence interval (CL) of 95% using generic inverse variance data. Sensitivity analysis and Publication Bias analysis was conducted. A total of 5 studies were included for quantitative analysis with total of 914 patients (498 diabetic patients with neuropathy as case and 416 diabetic patients without neuropathy as controls). The result of our study indicated that APOE4 carriers were likely to have high risk of diabetic neuropathy. (E4 vs. others; pooled OR with 95% confidence interval 1.80 (1.28, 2.53), p< 0.05 (p =0.0007)). In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that there is significant association between APOE4 gene and occurrence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. However, further studies are needed for more detailed analysis.