Analysis of cardiovascular and inflammatory genes as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Four genes, connected to either the inflammatory or cardiovascular system or both, were investigated for association with late onset AD in up to 180 late onset cases and 180 age- and sex-matched controls. The I allele of DCP1 has previously been reported to be associated with AD although no associations was detected in this study. Six other polymorphisms within the gene were also studied but yielded no positive genotypic, allelic or haplotype associations. The other genes studied, TACR2, a peptide receptor that maps to a region of suggestive linkage on chromosome 10, ECE1, a potent vasoconstrictor which also maps to region of suggestive linage on chromosome 1 and PI12, a serine protease inhibitor that can form amyloidogenic fragments, were screened for polymorphisms. Fifteen polymorphisms were discovered (five coding) with only one two-marker haplotype in ECE1 (p= 0.001) and a polymorphism upstream of TACR2 (p = 0.05) showing statistically significant association. Neither association retained statistical significance after adjusting for multiple testing.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo