Association of alpha-2-macroglobulin deletion polymorphism with sporadic Alzheimer's disease in Koreans.
Alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M) deletion polymorphism was recently reported to be associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a way comparable to apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphism in a family-based study. However, the association of A2M deletion polymorphism with AD has not been consistently replicated in successive case-controlled studies. In order to evaluate whether this A2M polymorphism is associated with AD in Koreans, we examined the frequencies of the A2M deletion (D) allele and D-bearing genotypes in a group of Koreans composed of 100 sporadic AD patients and 203 control subjects. The frequency of the deletion (D) allele (P=0.046) was significantly different between the total group of AD patients and the controls, although the frequency of the D-bearing genotypes did not attain significance (P=0.078). When the subjects were stratified according to age at onset, there was significant difference in the frequencies of the D allele (P=0.044) and D-bearing genotypes (P=0.041) between late-onset AD patients (> or =65 years) and the controls. However, no significant difference was observed between early-onset AD patients (<65 years) and the control group. Additionally, when we divided the late-onset AD and control subjects by APOE epsilon4 status, the difference of the A2M D allelic frequency was significant only in the APOE epsilon4 negative subjects (P=0.015). In conclusion, our data suggests that the A2M D allele is a modest risk factor for late-onset sporadic AD in Koreans, and the AD risk conferred by the A2M D allele increases in APOE epsilon4 negative subjects.
Neuroscience Research Institute of the Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, and Clinical Research Institute of Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
J H
JH
Jhoo
K W
KW
Kim
D Y
DY
Lee
K U
KU
Lee
J H
JH
Lee
S Y
SY
Kim
J Y
JY
Youn
J C
JC
Youn
J I
JI
Woo
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D017384:Sequence Deletion / Q000235:genetics*; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000235:genetics*
D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins