Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

Association studies of cholesterol metabolism genes (CH25H, ABCA1 and CH24H) in Alzheimer's disease.

Shibata N, Kawarai T, Lee JH, Lee HS, Shibata E, Sato C, Liang Y, Duara R, Mayeux RP, St George-Hyslop PH, Rogaeva E

Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tanz Neuroscience Building, University of Toronto, 6 Queen's Park Crescent West, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 3H2.

Recent studies have demonstrated that cholesterol metabolism has an important role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, suggesting that cholesterol-related genes may be significant genetic risk factors for AD. Based on the results of genome-wide screens, along with biological studies, we selected three genes as candidates for AD risk factors: ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) and cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CH24H). Case-control of North American Caucasians and AD families of Caribbean Hispanic origin were examined. Although excellent biological candidates, the case-control dataset did not support the hypothesis that these three genes were associated with susceptibility to AD. Similarly, no association was found in the Caribbean Hispanic families for CH25H. However, we did observe a possible interaction between ABCA1 and APOE in the Hispanics.

Published 5 December 2005 in Neurosci Lett, 391(3): 142-6.
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