The presence of an APOE epsilon4 allele may be a risk factor for neuropathy severity in diabetes. The authors assessed the frequency of APOE epsilon4 in patients presenting with sensory predominant neuropathy. APOE epsilon4 frequency among patients with early diabetic neuropathy and impaired glucose tolerance-associated neuropathy was 16 to 17%, and not different from patients with idiopathic neuropathy (17%) or published normative values (16%). APOE epsilon4 may not function as a susceptibility gene in sensory predominant neuropathy.