Associations of rs3740677 within GAB2 Gene with LOAD in Chinese Han Population

GRB2-associated binding protein 2 (GAB2) has been identified as a crucial factor in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and ten common variants within GAB2 have been detected to be associated with AD onset risk in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here, we first screened a common locus (rs3740677) in 3' UTR of GAB2 sequence which is targeted by the miRNA-185 and initiatively explored the probable associations of rs3740677 with risk for late-onset AD (LOAD) in a large scale case-control study from Chinese Han populations (992 LOAD patients and 1358 healthy subjects). Eventually, the genotype (P = 0.024) and allele (P = 0.008) distribution of rs3740677 showed significant difference between LOAD and control group, and we observed a significant association of T allele in rs3740677 with LOAD risk in multivariate analysis and it decreased the risk for LOAD (dominant: OR = 0.831, 95 % CI = 0.702-0.983, P = 0.031; additive: OR = 0.855, 95 % CI = 0.745-0.983, P = 0.027) adjusted for age, gender, and APOE ε4 status. Our study further confirmed the association of GAB2 and AD. However, the absolute and correct association of rs3740677 with AD still required more investigations in diverse regions and ethnics.