Landmark study links 42 genes to Alzheimer’s disease for first time
More than 40 genes have been linked for the first time to Alzheimer’s disease in a “landmark” study, paving the way for better diagnosis and treatment.
Global scientists, including experts from the UK, carried out the biggest research project of its kind looking at the genome (genetic material) of more than 100,000 people with Alzheimer’s.
Their findings suggest the disease is caused by a multitude of different factors and provide new evidence for the role of a specific protein involved in inflammation.
Eight countries, including the UK, US and Australia, took part in the study.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects more than 850,000 people in the UK.
The team hopes that, in future, they will be able to determine which factors put
people at risk and to develop therapies that better treat the condition.
Another possibility is that genetic testing will identify those people most at risk of developing Alzheimer’s before their symptoms appear.
The study, published in Nature Genetics, identified 75 genes associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, including 42 genes not previously implicated in the condition.
It also confirmed previous findings regarding the proteins amyloid-beta and tau, which build up in and around nerve cells as Alzheimer’s progresses, and found that inflammation and the immune system play a role in the disease.
A group of 111,326 people with Alzheimer’s disease were compared with 677,663 healthy individuals to look for differences in their genetic make-up.
Professor Julie Williams, centre director at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University and coauthor of the study, said: “This is a landmark study in the field of Alzheimer’s research and is the culmination of 30 years’ work.
“Genetics has and will continue to help us identify specific disease mechanisms which we can target therapeutically.
“This piece of work is a major leap forward in our mission to understand Alzheimer’s, and ultimately produce several treatments needed to delay or prevent the disease.”