Intergenerational public and private sector redistribution in Sweden 2003

We describe intergenerational redistribution in Sweden the year 2003. The high Swedish tax ratio of around 50-60 percent of GDP per capita is partly explained by every individual getting a lot back in terms of transfers and part in government consumption. Another reason is that most transfers are taxed, which results in double counting some tax payments. Here we attempt to correct the age profile of net tax payment for these effects and compare these to the gross profiles. On a per capita basis we find, using this netting, that the mean age of tax payers drops from 55 to 48 and that the taxes paid falls by 23.2 percent. We also look at age profiles of private and public consumption, and net private consumption, i.e., the difference between private disposable income and private consumption. We find that private net redistribution flows mainly from middle and old age to young ages, while net public transfers flow to both young and old.Intergenerational; redistribution

Differences in proliferation rate between CADASIL and control vascular smooth muscle cells are related to increased TGF beta expression

Cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a familial fatal progressive degenerative disorder. One of the pathological hallmarks of CADASIL is a dramatic reduction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in cerebral arteries. Using VSMCs from the vasculature of the human umbilical cord, placenta and cerebrum of CADASIL patients, we found that CADASIL VSMCs had a lower proliferation rate compared to control VSMCs. Exposure of control VSMCs and endothelial cells (ECs) to media derived from CADASIL VSMCs lowered the proliferation rate of all cells examined. By quantitative RT-PCR analysis, we observed increased Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) gene expression in CADASIL VSMCs. Adding TGF beta-neutralizing antibody restored the proliferation rate of CADASIL VSMCs. We assessed proliferation differences in the presence or absence of TGF beta-neutralizing antibody in ECs co-cultured with VSMCs. ECs co-cultured with CADASIL VSMCs exhibited a lower proliferation rate than those co-cultured with control VSMCs, and neutralization of TGF beta normalized the proliferation rate of ECs co-cultured with CADASIL VSMCs. We suggest that increased TGF beta expression in CADASIL VSMCs is involved in the reduced VSMC proliferation in CADASIL and may play a role in situ in altered proliferation of neighbouring cells in the vasculature.Peer reviewe

Differences in proliferation rate between CADASIL and control vascular smooth muscle cells are related to increased TGFβ expression

Cerebral autosomal‐dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a familial fatal progressive degenerative disorder. One of the pathological hallmarks of CADASIL is a dramatic reduction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in cerebral arteries. Using VSMCs from the vasculature of the human umbilical cord, placenta and cerebrum of CADASIL patients, we found that CADASIL VSMCs had a lower proliferation rate compared to control VSMCs. Exposure of control VSMCs and endothelial cells (ECs) to media derived from CADASIL VSMCs lowered the proliferation rate of all cells examined. By quantitative RT‐PCR analysis, we observed increased Transforming growth factor‐β (TGFβ) gene expression in CADASIL VSMCs. Adding TGFβ‐neutralizing antibody restored the proliferation rate of CADASIL VSMCs. We assessed proliferation differences in the presence or absence of TGFβ‐neutralizing antibody in ECs co‐cultured with VSMCs. ECs co‐cultured with CADASIL VSMCs exhibited a lower proliferation rate than those co‐cultured with control VSMCs, and neutralization of TGFβ normalized the proliferation rate of ECs co‐cultured with CADASIL VSMCs. We suggest that increased TGFβ expression in CADASIL VSMCs is involved in the reduced VSMC proliferation in CADASIL and may play a role in situ in altered proliferation of neighbouring cells in the vasculature. </p

Age-dependent variation of genotypes in MHC II transactivator gene (CIITA) in controls and association to type 1 diabetes

The major histocompatibility complex class II transactivator (CIITA) gene (16p13) has been reported to associate with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and myocardial infarction, recently also to celiac disease at genome-wide level. However, attempts to replicate association have been inconclusive. Previously, we have observed linkage to the CIITA region in Scandinavian type 1 diabetes (T1D) families. Here we analyze five Swedish T1D cohorts and a combined control material from previous studies of CIITA. We investigate how the genotype distribution within the CIITA gene varies depending on age, and the association to T1D. Unexpectedly, we find a significant difference in the genotype distribution for markers in CIITA (rs11074932, P=4 × 10(-5) and rs3087456, P=0.05) with respect to age, in the collected control material. This observation is replicated in an independent cohort material of about 2000 individuals (P=0.006, P=0.007). We also detect association to T1D for both markers, rs11074932 (P=0.004) and rs3087456 (P=0.001), after adjusting for age at sampling. The association remains independent of the adjacent T1D risk gene CLEC16A. Our results indicate an age-dependent variation in CIITA allele frequencies, a finding of relevance for the contrasting outcomes of previously published association studies.Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (2-2000-570) and (1-2001-873The Swedish Research CouncilSvenska Diabetes FondenBarndiabetes FondenNovo Nordisk FoundationMagnus Bergvalls FoundationNeuropromise (LSHM-CT-2005-018637)NIH grant DK-17047Swedish Brain Power initiativeGun and Bertil Stohne’s Foundation,Foundation for Old ServantsAlzheimer FoundationLIONS Foundation for Research of Age Related DisordersAFA foundationSöderberg FoundationKnut and Alice Wallenbergs FoundationManuscrip

Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease

We identified rare coding variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a 3-stage case-control study of 85,133 subjects. In stage 1, 34,174 samples were genotyped using a whole-exome microarray. In stage 2, we tested associated variants (P<1×10-4) in 35,962 independent samples using de novo genotyping and imputed genotypes. In stage 3, an additional 14,997 samples were used to test the most significant stage 2 associations (P<5×10-8) using imputed genotypes. We observed 3 novel genome-wide significant (GWS) AD associated non-synonymous variants; a protective variant in PLCG2 (rs72824905/p.P522R, P=5.38×10-10, OR=0.68, MAFcases=0.0059, MAFcontrols=0.0093), a risk variant in ABI3 (rs616338/p.S209F, P=4.56×10-10, OR=1.43, MAFcases=0.011, MAFcontrols=0.008), and a novel GWS variant in TREM2 (rs143332484/p.R62H, P=1.55×10-14, OR=1.67, MAFcases=0.0143, MAFcontrols=0.0089), a known AD susceptibility gene. These protein-coding changes are in genes highly expressed in microglia and highlight an immune-related protein-protein interaction network enriched for previously identified AD risk genes. These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to AD development

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Identification and description of three families with familial Alzheimer disease that segregate variants in the SORL1 gene

Abstract Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. The majority of AD cases are sporadic, while up to 5% are families with an early onset AD (EOAD). Mutations in one of the three genes: amyloid beta precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1) or presenilin 2 (PSEN2) can be disease causing. However, most EOAD families do not carry mutations in any of these three genes, and candidate genes, such as the sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORL1), have been suggested to be potentially causative. To identify AD causative variants, we performed whole-exome sequencing on five individuals from a family with EOAD and a missense variant, p.Arg1303Cys (c.3907C > T) was identified in SORL1 which segregated with disease and was further characterized with immunohistochemistry on two post mortem autopsy cases from the same family. In a targeted re-sequencing effort on independent index patients from 35 EOAD-families, a second SORL1 variant, c.3050-2A > G, was found which segregated with the disease in 3 affected and was absent in one unaffected family member. The c.3050-2A > G variant is located two nucleotides upstream of exon 22 and was shown to cause exon 22 skipping, resulting in a deletion of amino acids Gly1017- Glu1074 of SORL1. Furthermore, a third SORL1 variant, c.5195G > C, recently identified in a Swedish case control cohort included in the European Early-Onset Dementia (EU EOD) consortium study, was detected in two affected siblings in a third family with familial EOAD. The finding of three SORL1-variants that segregate with disease in three separate families with EOAD supports the involvement of SORL1 in AD pathology. The cause of these rare monogenic forms of EOAD has proven difficult to find and the use of exome and genome sequencing may be a successful route to target them

Phenotypic variability and neuropsychological findings associated with C9orf72 repeat expansions in a Bulgarian dementia cohort.

BACKGROUND:The GGGGCC repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene was recently identified as a major cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in several European populations. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of C9orf72 repeat expansions in a Bulgarian dementia cohort and to delineate the associated clinical features. METHODS AND FINDINGS:PCR-based assessments of the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion in all study samples (including 82 FTD, 37 Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 16 other neurodegenerative/dementia disorder cases) were performed. We report the clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging findings obtained for the C9orf72 repeat expansion carriers. Of the 135 cases screened, 3/82 (3.7%) of all FTD cases and 1/37 (2.7%) of all clinical AD cases had a C9orf72 repeat expansion. In this cohort, the C9orf72 pathological expansion was found in clinical diagnoses bridging the FTD, parkinsonism, ALS and AD spectrum. Interestingly, we showed early writing errors without aphasia in two subjects with C9orf72 expansions. CONCLUSIONS:This study represents the first genetic screening for C9orf72 repeat expansions in a Bulgarian dementia cohort. The C9orf72 repeat expansion does not appear to be a common cause of FTD and related disorders. This report confirms the notion that C9orf72 repeat expansions underlie a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative phenotypes. Relatively isolated agraphia in two cases with C9orf72 repeat expansions is a strong motivation to provide detailed and sophisticated oral and written language assessments that can be used to more precisely characterize early cognitive deficits in these heterogeneous conditions