Predictive genetic testing for Alzheimer's disease: impact upon risk perception.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine the impact on risk perceptions of disclosing genetic test results used to estimate the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Adult children (n = 149) of people with AD were randomized to one of two groups--Intervention group: lifetime risk estimates of AD based on age, gender, family history, and Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype;

Control Group: lifetime risk estimates of AD based on the same risk factors excluding APOE genotype. Perceptions of personal risk (PPR) for AD were assessed six weeks after risk assessments.

Genetic susceptibility testing versus family history-based risk assessment: Impact on perceived risk of Alzheimer disease.

Purpose: We examined how an Alzheimer disease (AD) family history assessment as compared to a risk assessment incorporating the absence of a disease-associated susceptibility allele affected risk perception among adult children with a family history of AD.

Methods: The REVEAL study is a clinical trial in which adult children of patients with AD were randomized to receive a risk assessment based upon family history alone or family history plus apolipoprotein E (APOE) disclosure. In this analysis, two subsets of women were identified, each of whom received identical 29% lifetime risk estimates of developing AD.

Genetics and genetic counseling: recommendations for Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

In this paper we discuss the clinical genetics of three neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), the current application of genetic testing for these diseases, and the role of genetic counseling in familial dementia. We review the literature addressing the clinical application of these genetic findings, including susceptibility testing and predictive testing. In addition, we share our own experience working with families with familial neurodegenerative disease, the genetic counseling process, and the major issues that need attention in the genetic counseling setting.

Who seeks genetic susceptibility testing for Alzheimer's disease? Findings from a multisite, randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: Alzheimer's disease, for which one form of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype is a risk factor, provides a paradigm in which to examine response to susceptibility testing for common, complex diseases. This study's main purposes were to estimate interest in such testing and to examine demographic predictors of study participation.

Methods: In this 3-site, randomized clinical trial (RCT), the intervention was a risk assessment program wherein genetic counselors educated adult children of AD patients about lifetime risk of disease based on their gender, family history, and APOE genotype.

Reasons for seeking genetic susceptibility testing among first-degree relatives of people with Alzheimer disease.

Advances in genetic research have provided a basis for susceptibility testing for Alzheimer disease (AD). Prior surveys have examined attitudes toward genetic testing for AD in hypothetical scenarios, but it is unclear what reasons would motivate people to seek testing in real-life situations. This study presents data from the first randomized trial to evaluate genetic susceptibility testing for asymptomatic adult children of people with AD.

Patients with Alzheimer disease have lower levels of serum anti-amyloid peptide antibodies than healthy elderly individuals.

Active immunization with the human amyloid peptide (Abeta42) or passive immunization with anti-Abeta42 antibodies protects mice that express a mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgene from cerebral amyloid deposits. If anti-Abeta42 antibodies protect APP-transgenic mice, a model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a high titer of anti-Abeta42 antibodies may protect humans from AD. The titer of anti-Abeta42 antibodies in serum from individuals with and without late onset AD was measured using an ELISA.