Discovery Of New Gene Explains Why Women Develop Alzheimer's More Than Men

For years, scientists have been trying to understand why Alzheimer's disease affects women more than men. Now, they seem to have found a clue.?

It's all about the genes! A gene called O6-Methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) is important in repairing damage to DNA in both men and women. Scientists did not find a correlation between MGMT and Alzheimer's in men, although the same was noted in women.

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A two-pronged approach to study Alzheimer's in women

Researchers from the University of Chicago and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) identified the relationship between MGMT and higher chances of Alzheimer's among women by using two independent datasets.

The first approach looked at Hutterites, an extended family of Europe's earliest human populations. Due to their small gene pool and isolated culture, they're used for studies, and all people involved in the study were women suffering from Alzheimer's.

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Also read:?Nasal Vaccine To Cure Alzheimer's To Enter Human Trials For First Time

The second approach analysed genetic data from a group of 10,340 women who did not have APOE ε4, a genetic variant that is known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's. About 60% of people with European ancestry with the disease have this genetic variant, they found.

"This stylistic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome" / Credit: Thomas Splettstoesser/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0

"This is one of a few and perhaps the strongest associations of a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s that is specific to women," said Lindsay Farrer, a senior author of the study and the chief of biomedical genetics at BUSM.

Also read:?What Causes Alzheimer's Disease? Scientists Finally Think They Have An Answer

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"This finding is particularly robust because it was discovered independently in two distinct populations using different approaches," Farrer added. "While the finding in the large dataset was most pronounced in women who don’t have APOE ε4, the Hutterite sample was too small to evaluate this pattern with any certainty."

Scientists also evaluated MGMT by studying the brain tissue. This was done to figure how MGMT is involved in the development of two proteins that are linked with Alzheimer's - amyloid-β and tau.

What do you think about this genetic factor's role in women developing Alzheimer's? Let us know in the comments below.??For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.

References

Staff, S. X. (2022b, June 30). Novel gene for Alzheimer’s disease in women identified. MedicalXpress.?