Hearing difficulty is linked to Alzheimer's disease by common genetic vulnerability, not shared genetic architecture.

ABSTRACT: Age-related hearing loss was recently established as the largest modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), however, the reasons for this link remain unclear. We investigate shared underlying genetic associations using results from recent large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on adult hearing difficulty and AD. Genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis do not support a genetic correlation between the disorders, but suggest a direct causal link from AD genetic risk to hearing difficulty, driven by APOE. Systematic MR analyses on the effect of other traits revealed shared effects of glutamine, gamma-glutamylglutamine, and citrate levels on reduced risk of both hearing difficulty and AD. In addition, pathway analysis on GWAS risk variants suggests shared f

SUBMITTER: Abidin FNZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8298411 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature