Saitohin gene is not associated with Alzheimer's disease.
BACKGROUND
The deposition of tau protein in neurofibrillary tangles constitutes an important feature of many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. A polymorphic gene, saitohin (STH), nested within the tau gene (microtubule associated protein tau, MAPT), was recently identified and an association of a non-synonymous polymorphism in STH with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease was suggested.


OBJECTIVE
To test the above hypothesis in a case-control association study of two independent white populations within Switzerland and Greece, comparing genotype and allele frequencies from 225 Alzheimer's disease patients and 144 healthy control subjects.


RESULTS
No differences in allelic or genotypic distributions between Alzheimer's disease patients and controls was found in the individual samples (Swiss/Greek) or in the combined sample. Stratification for the presence of apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon 4 allele, sex, or age did not show significant effects in the populations studied, nor was there an effect on the age of onset.


CONCLUSIONS
No evidence was found for an association of the non-synonymous polymorphism (Q7R) in STH and Alzheimer's disease. This finding is in line with earlier studies showing no association between MAPT and Alzheimer's disease.
Streffer
J R
JR
Division of Psychiatry Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland. streffer@bli.unizh.ch
Papassotiropoulos
A
A
Kurosinski
P
P
Signorell
A
A
Wollmer
M A
MA
Tsolaki
M
M
Iakovidou
V
V
Hörndli
F
F
Bosset
J
J
Götz
J
J
Nitsch
R M
RM
Hock
C
C
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D001057:Apolipoproteins E; C458340:STH protein, human; D016875:tau Proteins