Alzheimer’s Disease Essay examples -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting memory, cognitive and non-cognitive functions. Studies show that most cases of Alzheimer’s disease pertains to people who are 60 years of age or older; meanwhile, 80% of these cases are due to genetics. The risk of one having Alzheimer’s disease varies with their age and ethnicity. That being said, some elders are obtaining this disease in very late life, nearing their 90’s. The gene that is usually responsible for Alzheimer ’s disease (AD) is the Apolipoprotein E (APOE gene) which gets its name from encoding for the protein Apolipoprotein. It is on chromosome 19 and has three main alleles on the gene that seem to be responsible for this disease. They are: ÃŽ µ2, containing cysteine at position 112 and arginine at position 158 of the gene, ÃŽ µ3 containing cysteine at both 112 and 158 positions, and ÃŽ µ4 containing arginine at both 112 and 158 positions of the gene. The APOE ÃŽ µ4 allele is the disease’s most prevalent allele. The APOE ÃŽ µ4 allele is the disease’s most prevalent allele. The function of this gene is to regulate cholesterol and triglyceride metabolisms. This shows it is not only coincidental that high cholesterol and diabetes lead to late-onset Alzheimer’s. The APOE ÃŽ µ4 allele was tested and discovered to be so dangerous in 1993. Since, many more studies have been completed on this allele and it has been known to be the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Once all the human genotype was known after using the Human Genome Project, a microarray system used to study over 80 percent of the Caucasian genome for association signals called the 500K GeneChip from Affymetrix was created. This microarray kit was used to confirm that using high-density single nuc... ...sion, the results point researchers in the right direction proving that late on-set Alzheimer’s is very closely related to this APOE locus, especially the ÃŽ µ4 allele. Further studies may also show that this allele will likely contribute to other diseases as well. With the use of ultra-high density genome, further associations will be made regarding the link between late on-set Alzheimer’s and the APOE locus. Works Cited Coon, Keith D. Ph.D.; Amanda J. Myers, Ph.D.; David W. Craig, Ph.D.; Jennifer A. Webster, B.A.; John V. Pearson, B.Sc.; Diane Hu Lince, Ph.D.; Victoria L. Zismann, M.S.; Thomas G. Beach, M.D.; Doris Leung, M.D. â€Å"A High-Density Whole-Genome Association Study Reveals That APOE Is the Major Susceptibility Gene for Sporadic Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.† Physicians Post Graduate Press. J Clin Psychiatry 68:4, April 2007: 613-618. (Print)