Wednesday, March 28, 2007

New Gene for Alzheimer's

A report in Nature Genetics implicates a gene SORL1 involved in the processing of amyloid (the substance that accumulates in the brain of Alzheimer's patients) for a significant amount of familial Alzheimer's. These results were replicated in a pan-ethnic group (this means that the result is applicable to a broad population). This elegant study still requires some follow up to determine exactly what percentage of AD is SORL1 related, and to identify the disease causing agents. But the writing on the wall is clear, if we can identify the carriers prior to disease expression, we will be able to prevent this type of Alzheimer's........hopefully soon.

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