title: Polymorphisms in the alpha-2 macroglobulin gene in psychogeriatric patients.
abstract: Recent reports have suggested that genetic polymorphisms in the alpha-2 macroglobulin (A2M) gene are associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. In the present study we tested two polymorphisms in the alpha-2 macroglobulin gene, a 5 bp deletion at the 5' splice site of exon 18 and a G/A point mutation (V1000I) in exon 24, in a sample of 118 healthy, non demented controls and 238 consecutively recruited gerontopsychiatric patients, diagnosed as: Alzheimer's disease (N=88), mild cognitive impairment (N=32), subjective cognitive complaints (N=54) and depression/other psychiatric disorders (N=64). The aim of this study was to test whether the investigated polymorphisms has a high enough selectivity and specificity to distinguish between the different gerontopsychiatric disorders or to differentiate genetically AD from other forms of dementia, respectively. Also a possible relation to the APOE varepsilon4 polymorphism was examined. Our study failed to show an association between the two investigated polymorphisms in the alpha-2 macroglobulin gene and any of the four different psychogeriatric patient subgroups, either alone or in combination with the APOE varepsilon4 genotype.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Nussbaumstrasse 7, D-80336, Munich, Germany. peter.zill@psy.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zill
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bürger
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hampel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Padberg
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boetsch
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ackenheil
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bondy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins