Frontier Discovers 42 New Genetic Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease

▎WuXi AppTec Content Team Editor Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting the lives of more than 26 million people worldwide
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The discovery of genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease is critical to the understanding and treatment of the disease
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Today, an international team of researchers published a new study in Nature Genetics.
Based on the study of the genomes of more than 110,000 Alzheimer's disease and related dementia patients and more than 670,000 healthy people, scientists have identified 75 loci on the genome.
Linked to Alzheimer's disease, 42 of these were previously unidentified loci
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The discovery promises to open up new avenues for treatment and diagnosis, the researchers said
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The study performed a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of more than 110,000 patients with clinically diagnosed or questionnaire-based symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, and more than 670,000 healthy individuals
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Through the analysis of the 75 genomic loci found, the researchers confirmed the relationship between the amyloid and tau protein signaling pathways and Alzheimer's disease
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At the same time, the study highlights the role of microglia in disease development, showing that hyperactivity of microglia may be associated with disease progression
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Through further analysis of the novel loci, the researchers identified 31 genes worthy of further study, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) signaling pathway
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▲The genetic risk loci associated with Alzheimer's disease found in this study (Image source: Reference [1]) One of the co-authors of the study, Professor Julie Williams, director of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK Dementia Research Institute) The findings could rekindle efforts to find effective treatments, he said
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"It gave a lot of clues as to what went wrong
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"Nearly 10 years ago we hadn't done research on the immune system, and genetics has refocused our research
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"The research also allowed scientists to develop a genetic risk score that predicts the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or dementia in patients with cognitive impairment for the first time
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This tool is expected to be used in clinical trials for the treatment of Triage of participants to improve assessment of investigational therapies
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Reference: [1] Bellenguez et al.
, (2022).
New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Nature Genetics, https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41588-022-01024-z.
[2] Alzheimer's study finds 42 more genes linked to higher risk of disease.
Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https:// /04/alzheimers-study-finds-42-more-genes-linked-to-higher-risk-of
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disease , the opinions in this article do not represent WuXi AppTec's position, nor do they support or oppose the opinions expressed in the article
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