title: Association between an alpha(2) macroglobulin DNA polymorphism and late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: An association between a five-base-pair deletion/insertion DNA polymorphism at the alpha(2) macroglobulin gene (A2M) and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) has been recently described. We developed a PCR assay to analyze this polymorphism in 190 LOAD patients (older than 65 years) and 400 controls from Spain. Controls were stratified into three groups: <65 years (n = 200), 65 to 80 years (n = 100), and 81 years or older (n = 100). We found a significantly higher frequency of carriers of the D allele in patients older than 81 years compared to controls older than 81 years (p = 0.0012). In addition, the frequency of the D allele was significantly lower in controls older than 81 years compared to controls younger than 65 (p = 0.048). Our work suggests that the D allele confers an age-dependent increased risk to develop late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Genética Molecular-Instituto Investigación Nefrológica, Hospital Central Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lahoz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Guisasola
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salas-Puig
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morís
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uría
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Menes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ribacoba
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coto
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D002881:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins