New Discovery May Lead to Alzheimer’s Treatment
Research papers explained in plain language
Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating brain disorder that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behaviour. It mainly affects older adults and is the most common form of dementia. Currently there are no treatments that can stop or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.
However, new research published in the journal Neuron provides hope that effective treatments may be on the horizon. The study focused on a gene called APOE. A specific variant of this gene called APOE e4 is the biggest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
People who inherit one copy of APOE e4 are about 3 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, while those with two copies are about 8–12 times more likely.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.01.007
Stopping APOE e4 Could Protect Against Alzheimer’s
The researchers screened a large group of people to find individuals who had rare variants of APOE that resulted in a loss of function, and this meant the gene was no longer working properly.
They identified 7 people who carried these broken variants of APOE. Five did not have dementia, even at advanced ages like 76, 79, and 90 years old. Two others carried broken variants that affected the risky APOE e4 version of the gene.
One was cognitively normal at age 90, while the other was healthy at 79.
This suggests that losing the function of APOE e4 protects against Alzheimer’s disease. The e4 variant seems to increase Alzheimer’s risk by gaining an abnormal function. Therefore, treatments that target APOE e4 by knocking down its activity could be an effective Alzheimer’s therapy.
More research is still needed, but these findings provide hope that science is honing in on new ways to combat this devastating disease.
Key Points:
- APOE e4 is the biggest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s
- The study found people with broken, non-functioning variants of APOE e4 who remained dementia-free
- This suggests knocking down APOE e4 could protect against Alzheimer’s
- These results support developing Alzheimer’s treatments that reduce APOE e4 activity
References:
A role for the cerebellum in motor-triggered alleviation of anxiety: Neuron (cell.com)
- Xiao-Yang Zhang 10
- Wen-Xia Wu 10
- Li-Ping Shen 10
- Chris I. De Zeeuw
- Jian-Jun Wang
- Jing-Ning Zhu 11
- Show all authors
Open AccessPublished:January 31, 2024DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.01.007
