Scientists Identify Genetic Form Of Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists say they have identified a new genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease that underscores the urgent need for developing specialised treatment and prevention strategies.

- NILIMA MARSHALL

Researchers in the US said almost all of the people who carry two copies of the APOE4 gene variant, known as APOE4 homozygotes, are likely to develop signs of the neurological condition.

They said this gene is already associated with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

But scientists now believe 95 per cent people who are over 65 and carry two copies of APOE4 show early signs of the disease, making it a distinct genetic form of Alzheimer’s.

These people also develop the condition earlier than those with other variants of the APOE gene, they added.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, are based on clinical data from more than 10,000 people, as well as pathological data from more than 3,000 brain donors.

Dr Juan Fortea, director of the research area on neurological diseases, neuroscience, and mental health at the Sant Pau Research Institute in Barceclona, Spain, said: “These data represent a reconceptualisation of the disease or what it means to be homozygous for the APOE4 gene.