African ancestry protects against Alzheimer's disease-related neuropathology.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies in dementia epidemiology have reported higher Alzheimer's disease rates in African-Americans when compared with White Americans. To determine whether genetically determined African ancestry is associated with neuropathological changes commonly associated with dementia, we analyzed a population-based brain bank in the highly admixed city of São Paulo, Brazil. African ancestry was estimated through the use of previously described ancestry-informative markers. Risk of presence of neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, small vessel disease, brain infarcts and Lewy bodies in subjects with significant African ancestry versus those without was determined. Results were adjusted for multiple environmental risk factors, demographic variables and apolipoprotein E genotype. Africa

SUBMITTER: Schlesinger D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3526728 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature