OBJECTIVES: There are three major isoforms of apolipoprotein E (apoE), namely 
apoE2, apoE3, and apoE4, that are products of three alleles 
(epsilon2,epsilon3,epsilon4) at a single gene locus on chromosome 19. It is well 
known that the presence of apoE4 increases the risk for the development of 
Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. The aim of the study was to examine if 
apoE polymorphism or apoE levels contribute to the severity of the disease in 
patients with multiple sclerosis or the outcome of nerve damage in patients with 
herpes zoster infection.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined apoE phenotype of 105 MS patients and 41 
patients with herpes zoster. We also measured serum and cerebrospinal fluid 
(CSF) levels of apoE from 93 patients with definite MS using enzyme linked 
immunosorbent assay.
RESULTS: There were no differences in apoE allele frequencies in MS or herpes 
zoster patients compared to the allele frequencies of controls. The levels of 
serum or CSF apoE did not differ from those of age-matched controls, nor did 
they correlate with the disease activity.
CONCLUSION: We conclude that apoE does not contribute to the activity of MS or 
the outcome of herpes zoster.