Genetic Variant Offers Potential Protection Against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Study Finds
Study reveals a genetic variant present in one-fifth of people provides protection against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, potentially paving the way for a vaccine.
A recent study suggests that one in five individuals possess a genetic variant known as DR4, which appears to offer protection against both Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The analysis of medical and genetic data from hundreds of thousands of participants revealed that carrying this variant reduced the risk of developing either condition by over 10% on average.
Researchers, led by Stanford University in California, collaborated with international teams to combine databases from various countries. They compared the incidence and age at the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s among those with the DR4 variant. Their findings indicated that individuals carrying this gene were not only less likely to develop these conditions but also experienced later diagnoses compared to non-carriers.
Emmanual Mignot, senior author of the study, expressed astonishment at discovering that DR4 had similar protective effects against both diseases: “That this protective factor for Parkinson’s wound up having the same protective effect with respect to Alzheimer’s floored me.” The researchers further examined autopsied brains from more than 7,000 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and found fewer tangles of tau protein—associated with cognitive decline—in those who carried the DR4 variant. These individuals also exhibited delayed symptom onset.
The team concluded that their findings suggest a potential role for tau protein in both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. They propose that developing a vaccine capable of enhancing the function of DR4 could be instrumental in slowing or delaying progression in these conditions. However, such treatment would only benefit individuals who carry this specific genetic variant.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, this groundbreaking research opens doors towards understanding genetic factors involved in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s while offering hope for future preventive measures through targeted vaccines.
