Study finds genetic risk for dementia in people of African descent

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Update: December 22, 2022 11:43 p.m. IS

Angels [US]Dec 22 (ANI): Researchers have found many genetic risks distinct from those seen in people of European descent in the largest-ever genomic survey of dementia in people of African descent.
Scientists have discovered many cases where genetic variations can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s associated diseases and dementias using data from the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP).
“MVP is a fantastic resource for studying the genetics of many diseases, including dementia,” said research author Dr. Mark Logue, statistician at the VA Boston Healthcare System and the National Center for PTSD. “It’s one of the first Alzheimer’s disease-related research will emerge from the MVP. My colleagues and I are working hard to expand MVP’s work on dementia and collaborate with other organizations at scale Alzheimer’s disease research organizations.
In the United States, a greater proportion of African Americans have Alzheimer’s illness than people of European descent; however, most large genetic studies of Alzheimer’s white participants in the disease study. Although there are genes involved in Alzheimer’s which are consistent across different populations, the researchers explained in the study that specific variants may differ by ancestry. This means that the results of a study using only one ethnic group may not apply to other groups, hampering the prevention and treatment of dementia. For example, studies have shown that a genetic variant called APOE E4 carries the greatest genetic risk of Alzheimer’s in people of European descent, but the effect of APOE E4 is half as strong in people of African descent.
The increased representation of populations of non-European ancestry in genome-wide association studies has been identified as a critical scientific and equity issue in genetic studies. The difference in sample sizes between studies of European and non-European ancestry to date may even be contributing to health disparities in minority populations, according to the study.

To address this disparity, Boston VA researchers compared the genomes of more than 4,000 MVP participants of African descent with dementia with more than 18,000 veterans without dementia. The team also conducted a second analysis comparing 7,000 black MVP participants who said their parents had dementia with 56,000 whose parents did not have dementia. This sample is more than twice as large as the previous largest Alzheimer’s genetic study of individuals of African descent.
The results showed an association between the risk of dementia and variants of six different genes, including APOE. While many of these genes have been linked to dementia in previous genetic studies of people of European descent, only two of them have been identified as significant risk factors in people of African descent.
While many of the genetic variants identified in this study were linked to dementia in groups, the particular genetic variants linked to dementia risk were different between people of African and European descent, meaning that different forms of the same gene can affect a person’s risk of dementia. on their run.
These new findings will help fill knowledge gaps about Alzheimer’s ancestry-based risk, the researchers said. Identification of population-specific genetic risk factors will lead to more accurate risk assessment in people of African descent and may also reveal new molecular targets for developing drugs to treat. Alzheimer’s disease.
With over 900,000 participants to date, MVP is one of the largest genetic research programs in the world. MVP researchers collect genetic data in addition to health, lifestyle, and military exposure information to understand how genes affect health and disease.
MVP is also one of the most diverse genetic programs in the world. More than 150,000 African American veterans have volunteered to join MVP, representing 18% of all participants. This means that MVP includes more people of African descent than any other biobank in the world. Through its diversity and the selflessness of veterans who participate, MVP works to bridge the racial divide in the link between genetics and disease.
“MVP’s sheer size as one of the largest genetic databases in the world means it can really advance what is known about how genes influence dementia risk,” said Log. “Working on the MVP data is an exciting opportunity for a researcher like me, and I am grateful to all of the veterans who agreed to participate in this study.” (ANI)