Multiple Sclerosis May Increase Risk for Alzheimer Disease
Multiple sclerosis (MS) may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer disease (AD), according to an analysis of genetic data published in Neurodegenerative Disease Management.
“Our findings suggest that having multiple sclerosis may increase a person’s genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” wrote Jai Kumar Rajavoor Muniswamy, MBBS, and co-authors. “We also discovered that certain genes involved in the body’s immune response – especially those affecting specific types of immune cells called T cells – were active in both diseases.”
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The authors utilized Mendelian randomization to examine the genetic relationship between MS and AD. They analyzed genetic data from thousands of individuals to find connections between the two diseases. Inverse variance weighted and MR-Egger indicated a positive causal association between MS and AD (p < 0.05). Pleiotropy (Egger β = −0.017, p = 0.002) was addressed using robust methods. Expressive quantitative trait locus analysis identified 41 genes, with KEGG enrichment implicating Th1/Th2 and Th17 differentiation pathways.
Overall, researchers found 44 genetic variations which are known to influence MS risk that also show a similar role in AD. Upon further examination of the variants, the authors found that many of them are associated with the activity of T-cells, particularly T-helper cells. It is possible that genetic changes affecting the T-helper cells might enable later disease activity for MS and AD, thus suggesting a link between the two.
“Taken together, these findings reinforce the notion of a causal effect of MS on [Alzheimer’s], particularly mediated by immune-regulatory mechanisms involving T-helper cell differentiation,” the scientists wrote.
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