Apolipoprotein E genotyping using the polymerase chain reaction and allele-specific oligonucleotide probes.

A rapid procedure for determining apolipoprotein E genotype from genomic DNA has been developed. In this procedure, DNA is amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, and allele-specific oligonucleotide probes are used to detect the cysteine-arginine interchanges at residues 112 and 158 that distinguish the three common isoforms of apolipoprotein E. The method was tested with 68 subjects, representing the six common phenotypes, and yielded results consistent with the known phenotype.