Alzheimer Gene Linked to Brain Development

J Gordon Millichap,John J Millichap

doi:10.15844/pedneurbriefs-28-3-7

Abstract

Investigators at Brown University, Providence, RI, and other imaging genetic centers in the US, compare MRI measurements of white matter myelin water fraction (MWF) and gray matter volume (GMV) in healthy infant carriers and noncarriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 allele, the major susceptibility gene for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD).

Highlights

Growdon JH, and Hyman BT allude to data emphasizing effects of B-amyloid on neural plasticity during brain development, a peptide elevated in Down syndrome where trisomy 21 leads to an extra copy of the amyloid precursor protein and early onset AZ [2]
A study of effect of age and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on neuropathological changes in Down syndrome hippocampal formation found that individuals who had inherited the APOE e4 genotype contained more than twice the amyloid burden of non-carriers
Investigators at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK, and multiple centers internationally report the response to high-dose oral riboflavin therapy in 18 patients from 13 families with mutations in SLC5ZA2, encoding riboflavin transporter RTVT2, a new causative gene for Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome (BVVLS), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder leading to death in childhood

Summary

Introduction

In a comment (Alzheimer gene APOE e4 linked to brain development in infants), Drs McDonald and Krainc of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine find that this study highlights compelling evidence of the influence of the APOE e4 allele on brain structure in young infants. Growdon JH, and Hyman BT allude to data emphasizing effects of B-amyloid on neural plasticity during brain development, a peptide elevated in Down syndrome where trisomy 21 leads to an extra copy of the amyloid precursor protein and early onset AZ [2].

Results

Conclusion