Associations between Potentially Modifiable Risk Factors and Alzheimer Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Potentially modifiable risk factors including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and smoking are associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) and represent promising targets for intervention. However, the causality of these associations is unclear. We sought to assess the causal nature of these associations using Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods and findings

We used SNPs associated with each risk factor as instrumental variables in MR analyses. We considered type 2 diabetes (T2D, NSNPs = 49), fasting glucose (NSNPs = 36), insulin resistance (NSNPs = 10), body mass index (BMI, NSNPs = 32), total cholesterol (NSNPs = 73), HDL-cholesterol (NSNPs = 71), LDL-cholesterol (NSNPs = 57), triglycerides (NSNPs = 39), systolic blood pressure (SBP, NSNPs = 24), smoking initiation

SUBMITTER: Ostergaard SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4469461 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature