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Cholesterol management may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, said researchers, including one from India, who identified a genetic link between a progressive brain disorder and heart disease.
By examining the DNA of more than 1.5 million people, the study showed that risk factors for heart disease such as high levels of triglycerides and cholesterol (HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol) were genetically linked to the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
However, genes that contribute to other cardiovascular risk factors, such as body mass index and type 2 diabetes, do not appear to contribute to the genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease.
"The genes that influenced lipid metabolism were also related to the risk of Alzheimer's disease," said Celeste M. Karch, assistant professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Washington.
So, if one could target the right genes and proteins, it might be possible to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease in some people by managing their cholesterol and triglycerides, added Rahul S. Desikan , assistant professor at UCSF.
For the study, published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, the team
identified DNA points that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and also increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
The team examined differences in the DNA of people with factors contributing to heart disease or Alzheimer's disease and identified 90 genome points associated with the risk of contracting these two diseases.
Their analysis confirmed that six of the 90 regions had very significant effects on Alzheimer's disease and increased levels of lipids in the blood, including several genes not previously associated with dementia risk.
These included several points in the CELF1 / MTCH2 / SPI1 region on chromosome 11 that had been linked to the immune system.
The researchers confirmed their findings in a large genetic study of healthy adults by showing that these same risk factors were more common among people with a family history of Alzheimer 's, even though they did not. had not themselves developed dementia or other symptoms such as memory loss.
"These results imply that cardiovascular pathology and Alzheimer's disease co-occur because they are genetically linked, in other words, if you wear this handful of genetic variants, you run a risk not only of heart disease, but also Alzheimer's, "Desikan said.
(With agency contributions.)
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