Case-control study of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) genetic variability in Alzheimer's disease

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major regulator of angiogenesis and blood vessel function. Recent evidence indicates that VEGF facilitates memory and learning through stimulating angiogenesis and neurogenesis in the rat hippocampal dendate gyrus. Abnormal regulation of VEGF expression has been reported in the pathogenesis of both atherosclerosis and motoneuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with low VEGF-producing polymorphisms (-2578 allele A and -634 allele G) conferring increased susceptibility for the development of the disorders. We tested whether these polymorphisms downregulating expression of VEGF might increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). So, we performed a case-control study in 362 Spanish AD patients and 428 healthy controls. The current study does not demonstrate an association between VEGF (-2578) and VEGF (-634) genotypes or haplotypes and AD.