Dissecting the genetic relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: Cardiovascular (CV)- and lifestyle-associated risk factors (RFs) are increasingly recognized as important for Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Beyond the ?4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE), comparatively little is known about whether CV-associated genes also increase risk for AD. Using large genome-wide association studies and validated tools to quantify genetic overlap, we systematically identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) jointly associated with AD and one or more CV-associated RFs, namely body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes (T2D), coronary artery disease (CAD), waist hip ratio (WHR), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). In fold enrichment plots, we observed robust genetic enrichment in AD as a function of plasma lipids (TG, TC, LDL, and HDL); we found minimal AD genetic enrichment conditional on BMI, T2D, CAD, and WHR. Beyond APOE, at conjunction FDR?

SUBMITTER: Broce IJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6358498 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature