WASHINGTON: Scientists said on Sunday they have pinpointed a new gene linked to Alzheimer’s disease, the incurable brain disorder that is the top cause of dementia in the elderly.
Abnormalities in a gene called SORL1 increased the risk for the disease, and this finding could help scientists develop new treatments, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Genetics.
The researchers looked at DNA samples from 6,000 people from four ethnic groups: Caribbean-Hispanics, North Europeans, black Americans and Israeli-Arabs. They found certain variations of SORL1 more often in people with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease than in healthy people.
The late-onset form, affecting people age 65 and up, represents about 90% of Alzheimer’s cases. The rarer early-onset form affects people from about age 30 to 65.Only one other gene, called ApoE4, has been identified as a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s. It was identified in 1993.
Source:The Times Of India