The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma2) Pro12Ala polymorphism is associated with higher risk for Alzheimer's disease in octogenarians.
Recent observations support the hypothesis that inflammatory processes at the brain level may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) is involved in such processes, so we thought it interesting to study the Pro12Ala polymorphism in exon 2 of the gene in a sample of late-onset AD patients. We found that Ala genotypes were significantly overrepresented among octogenarian patients compared to controls (p=0.034). Using logistic regression we observed that carrying the Ala allele significantly increased by nearly two-fold the risk of developing AD in subjects 80 years or older (OR=1.98; 95% CI 1.03-3.80, p=0.04). Though this difference was borderline significant after correction for multiple comparisons, our results suggest a possible involvement of the PPAR-gamma gene in susceptibility to late-onset AD in octogenarians.
Scacchi
Renato
R
CNR Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, c/o Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University, La Sapienza, Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. Renato.Scacchi@uniroma1.it
Pinto
Alessandro
A
Gambina
Giuseppe
G
Rosano
Aldo
A
Corbo
Rosa Maria
RM
D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D047495:PPAR gamma / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors
D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D047495:PPAR gamma