No association between the HLA-A2 allele and Alzheimer disease.
Journal Article
The apolipoprotein E (APOE)-4 allele is a major risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD), but it does not account for all the genetic variation in late-onset AD; thus, other genetic markers must be examined. Previous studies suggest an HLA-A2 allele association with risk and earlier onset age of AD. Because these effects may be additive to those of APOE-4, we studied HLA-A2 and APOE-4 frequencies in AD patients and cognitively intact controls. A total of 712 unrelated Caucasian subjects included 479 patients with AD (435 sporadic, 44 familial) and 233 controls. Patients (mean+/-SD age 73.9+/-7.9 years, range 42-93 years) had probable AD, according to standard diagnostic criteria; controls (mean+/-SD age 70.4+/-8.5 years, range 37-92 years) were cognitively intact. APOE and HLA-A2 typing used polymerase chain reaction to indicate the number of APOE-4 alleles present as well as the presence (A1/A2, A2/A2 genotypes) or absence (A1/A1 genotype) of HLA-A2. A two-way analysis of variance was used to assess the effect of the HLA-A2 allele on age at onset of dementia. No association between HLA-A2 and APOE-4 was found, and the presence of HLA-A2 allele did not increase AD risk. There was also no evidence for an association between HLA-A2 and earlier onset age of AD. Examination age, sex, family history of AD, and recruitment site had no influence on these results. In conclusion, the HLA-A2 allele did not influence AD risk or onset age in this study population. A2 heterozygosity, and population differences, including stratification sub-structures, and other undetermined factors could contribute to discrepant findings among studies.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Small, GW; Scott, WK; Komo, S; Yamaoka, LH; Farrer, LA; Auerbach, SH; Saunders, AM; Roses, AD; Haines, JL; Pericak-Vance, MA
Published Date
- September 1999
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 2 / 3
Start / End Page
- 177 - 182
PubMed ID
- 10541592
Pubmed Central ID
- 10541592
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1364-6745
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s100480050080
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States