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.

Analysis of the effect of aluminum in drinking water and transferrin C2 allele on Alzheimer's disease.

Rondeau V, Iron A, Letenneur L, Commenges D, Duchêne F, Arveiler B, Dartigues JF

INSERM EMI 0338, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France. virginie.rondeau@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr

Although highly controversial, the hypothesis of a link between aluminum (Al) in drinking water and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been supported by several epidemiological studies. Transferrin (Tf) is a major transport protein for both iron and Al. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that defective binding of iron and Al to the Tf variant C2 could be present in AD. Individuals carrying the Tf C2 allele might therefore be at greater risk of developing AD. We investigated whether the Tf C2 allele might be responsible for susceptibility to AD in a sample of 292 subjects (with 55 AD) aged > or = 75 years from south-west France, some exposed to high levels of Al in tap water (n = 181 subjects) and others to low levels of Al (n = 111 subjects). We also examined the combined genetic effects of Tf C2 and epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE). Logistic regression analysis showed that neither Tf C2 nor its interaction with Al or with the epsilon4 allele of the ApoE were significantly associated with the risk of AD.

Published 25 August 2006 in Eur J Neurol, 13(9): 1022-5.
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