SAN ANTONIO – A new study from UT Health San Antonio has provided new insights into Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have uncovered a genetic factor that may contribute to the risk of late onset of the disease, according to a news release from UT Health San Antonio.
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The study, led by Liang Ma, Ph.D. — assistant professor with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology at UT Health San Antonio — discovered a specific protein-coding transcript that may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease across all genetic types of apolipoprotein E (APOE), a well-known gene tied to Alzheimer’s risk with variants including ε2, ε3, and ε4, according to the release.
Ma and his team studied brain samples from more than 1,000 people of European and African ancestry. The team focused on multiple parts of the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex. The goal was to identify risk factors specific to certain groups or factors that may be universal.
“Fortunately, the data shows that the risk factor, gene expression changes and polymorphisms are consistent between European and African ancestries. This suggests these are common risk factors across both populations. That’s good news, because if we develop a drug, we can potentially use it to treat both populations,” Ma said.
Understanding how these genetic factors play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s could lead to new treatments for the disease.
“Deciphering the physiological role of this transcript and its potential contribution to disease progression is a current challenge that holds promise for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies,” said Agustin Ruiz, MD, Ph.D., co-investigator and professor at the Biggs Institute.
Alzheimer’s affects about 7 million Americans, and that number is expected to double by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s.