Brain News
Researchers at the University of Chicago and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) discovered the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease in women. The study is published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
The Study
The researchers conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for Alzheimer’s disease in two independent datasets using different methods. The first part of the study examined the Hutterites, a founder population of central European ancestry settled in the US.
The second study explored the link between Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer, analyzing genetic data from women who lacked the APOE ε4 gene.
The Findings
The results revealed that the gene called MGMT increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in women.
One of the lead researchers, Lindsay Farrer, elaborated: “This is one of a few and perhaps the strongest associations of a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s that is specific to women.”
The researchers are enthusiastic that the study will aid further research into gender-specific genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
To Know More You May Refer To
Chung, J., Das, A., Sun, X., Sobreira, D. R., Leung, Y. Y., Igartua, C., Mozaffari, S., Chou, Y. F., Thiagalingam, S., Mez, J., Zhang, X., Jun, G. R., Stein, T. D., Kunkle, B. W., Martin, E. R., Pericak-Vance, M. A., Mayeux, R., Haines, J. L., Schellenberg, G. D., Nobrega, M. A., … Farrer, L. A. (2022). Genome-wide association and multi-omics studies identify MGMT as a novel risk gene for Alzheimer’s disease among women. Alzheimer’s & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 10.1002/alz.12719. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12719
