An Association Study of 21 Potential Alzheimer's Disease Risk Genes in a Finnish Population

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Sarajärvi, Timo | Helisalmi, Seppo | Antikainen, Leila | Mäkinen, Petra | Koivisto, Anne Maria | Herukka, Sanna-Kaisa | Haapasalo, Annakaisa | Soininen, Hilkka | Hiltunen, Mikko^{; *}

Affiliations: Institute of Clinical Medicine – Neurology, University of Eastern Finland and the Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Mikko Hiltunen, PhD, Institute of Clinical Medicine – Neurology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FIN-70211, Kuopio, Finland. Tel.: +358 40 355 2014; Fax: +358 17 162048; E-mail: mikko.hiltunen@uef.fi.

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a genetically complex disorder encompassing several individual susceptibility genes with low risk effects. To assess the risk gene effects in a cohort consisting of ∼1300 Finnish AD patients and controls, 21 candidate gene polymorphisms were selected for genotyping on the basis of the meta-analyses retrieved from the AlzGene database. A significant genotype and allele association with AD was observed with rs1800629 in the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF). Risk analysis revealed a protective effect for the minor allele carriers of rs1800629. This suggests that genetic alteration in TNF gene may play a role in AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, inflammation, polymorphism, risk gene, TNF

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2010-100597

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 763-767, 2010