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Alzheimer risk variant CLU and brain function during aging.

Madhav Thambisetty¹, Lori L Beason-Held, Yang An

¹Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA. thambisettym@mail.nih.gov

Biological Psychiatry

|July 17, 2012

Summary

The Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk variant rs11136000 in the clusterin gene (CLU) influences brain blood flow and accelerates cognitive decline in presymptomatic stages of AD. This CLU risk allele impacts brain function in asymptomatic individuals.

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Mapping Alzheimer's Disease Variants to Their Target Genes Using Computational Analysis of Chromatin Configuration

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Published on: January 9, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Genetics
Aging Research

Background:

Investigated the Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk variant rs11136000 in the clusterin gene (CLU).
Examined the effect of this variant on longitudinal changes in resting state regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during normal aging.
Assessed its influence on cognitive decline in presymptomatic AD stages.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine how the CLU risk variant affects brain blood flow over time in aging individuals.
To understand the variant's role in cognitive decline before clinical diagnosis of AD.
To explore CLU's potential mechanisms in AD pathogenesis.

Main Methods:

Utilized data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
Analyzed longitudinal (15)O-water positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of rCBF in 88 cognitively normal older adults.
Compared cognitive decline trajectories in CLU risk carriers versus noncarriers (n=599 normal, n=95 MCI/AD converters).

Main Results:

CLU risk allele carriers showed dose-dependent increases in resting state rCBF in memory-related brain regions.
No memory performance differences were observed between CLU carriers and noncarriers who remained cognitively normal.
In individuals who converted to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD, CLU risk carriers exhibited faster presymptomatic memory decline.

Conclusions:

The CLU AD risk variant impacts longitudinal brain function changes in asymptomatic individuals.
This variant is linked to accelerated cognitive decline during the presymptomatic stages of AD.
Findings suggest mechanisms for CLU's role in AD and potential for monitoring at-risk elderly.