title: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Several lines of evidence have made brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) an important candidate gene conferring risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, three studies reported an association between two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)--i.e., C270T and G196A--in the BDNF gene and AD. This attempt to confirm these associations in a larger AD sample included examination of the linkage disequilibrium of these two SNPs. Comparison of 487 Japanese AD subjects with 471 cognitively normal elderly controls showed higher frequencies of the G allele (60.5 vs. 55.5%, p = 0.028) and of both the GG and GA genotypes (85.8 vs. 79.8%, p = 0.025) of the G196A polymorphism in AD subjects than in controls and higher frequency of the T allele of the C270T polymorphism in AD subjects who were negative for apolipotrotein E4 (2.0 vs. 4.4%, p = 0.035) or positive for AD family history (2.8 vs. 7.1%, p = 0.046). These findings suggest that BDNF gene polymorphisms play some role in the development of AD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Research, National Hospital Organization, Kurihama Alcoholism Center, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. shiguchi@wa2.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yuzuriha
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Urakami
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higuchi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor