Candidate Susceptibility Genes in Alzheimers Disease Are at High Risk for Being Forgotten - They Dont Give Peace of Mind...

Andras      Palotas; Janos      Kalman

Abstract

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a genetically complex and heterogenous disorder. In a small proportion of cases, mutations in three determinative (causal) genes are responsible for autosomal dominant early-onset forms of AD. The majority of cases, however, is sporadic, late-onset AD with unknown etiology. The pathology and clinical manifestations of these forms are influenced by multiple genetic and environmental risk factors. Over the past decades, a number of candidate genes have been identified as disease modifiers with conflicting results. This study reviews susceptibility genes that are associated with increased risk of developing AD.

Keywords: Allele, Alzheimer's disease, determinative gene, linkage analysis, polymorphism, risk factor, risk gene, susceptibility gene