A Novel Association of Polymorphism in the Gene Encoding the VLA-4 4 Subunit with Increased Risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia in elderly people worldwide. Many studies support the hypothesis that the inflammation of the CNS contributes to the neurodegeneration and disease progression. The integrin molecule 41, also known as very late antigen 4 (VLA-4), belongs to adhesion molecules that activate the inflammatory process through the migration of immune cells into the CNS. Therefore, the objective of our study was to analyze the association between two polymorphisms located in the gene encoding the 4 subunit of VLA-4 and the risk of AD. 104 late-onset AD patients and 206 control subjects from Slovakia were genotyped for gene SNP polymorphism rs113276800 (-269C/A) and rs1143676 (+3061A/G). The same study cohorts were also genotyped for the -4, which is a known genetic factor associated with increased risk of AD developing. polymorphism analysis revealed significantly higher frequency of the +3061AG carriers in AD group compared to the controls ( ≤ 0.05). Following the -4 stratification of study groups, the association remained significant only in -4 noncarriers. Our study suggests a novel association of +3061A/G polymorphism with AD and its possible contribution to the disease pathology.