摘要Objective To investigate the distribution of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype among different vascular complications and the variation of allele frequency with age in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).Methods 125 NIDDM patients and 50 healthy individuals were selected randomly. Polymerase chain reaction was used to determine their ApoE genotypes.Results The prevalence of ∈3/3 in any vascular complication group was 59.3%, which was significantly lower than 76.0% in controls (P<0.05). The prevalences of ∈3/3, ∈4/3 and ∈4 in coronary heart disease (CHD) group were 51.8%, 33.9% and 20.5%, respectively, which were significantly lower (∈3/3, P<0.01) or higher (∈4/3, P<0.01; ∈4, P<0.05) than those in the controls, respectively. The ∈4 frequency was significantly lower in the elderly than in the non-elderly group of NIDDM (P<0.05).Conclusion ∈4 increases the risk for vascular complications, especially CHD, and ∈4 may affect the life expectancy of NIDDM patients.