Onset Genes for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Located

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center (Durham NC, USA; www.mc.duke.edu) have identified a group of chromosomal regions that could be responsible for controlling the onset of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. The study, designed to test the hypothesis that the same set of genes might control the onset of two disorders that share some common features, appears in the April 2002 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

As part of the study the researchers performed a genomic screen--the first ever designed to study age at onset of the two disorders--of 449 families with multiple family members with Alzheimer's disease and 174 families with multiple family members with Parkinson's disease. Past research had shown that chromosome 10 could contain a risk gene for Alzheimer's disease. The current study shows that chromosome 10 could contain an age-at-onset gene that affects both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Strong evidence was also found for an age-at-onset gene for Parkinson's on chromosome 1.

The age of onset of Alzheimer's disease is generally considered the time at which an individual begins to suffer short-term memory loss or disorientation in a manner serious enough to interfere with daily activities. The average age at onset for individuals in the study was 72.8 years for Alzheimer's disease and 60.1 years for Parkinson's disease.

"The finding is significant because until now, geneticists have focused their attention on identifying individual genes that control the risk of developing a disease,” says Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Genetics at Duke and principal investigator of the study. "Risk is only one mode of genetic expression. Age at onset of disease can also be genetically influenced. Understanding the regulation of onset will open new avenues of research that could one day make it possible to delay onset beyond an individual's normal lifespan.”




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Duke University Medical Center