[The genetics of Alzheimer's disease]

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system which causes progressive memory and cognitive decline during mid to late adult life and is accompanied by a wide range of neuropathologic features including extracellular amyloid plaques and intra-neuronal neurofibrillary tangles. Four genetic loci for Alzheimer's disease have been identified. They are the amyloid precursor protein gene on chromosome 21, a gene for early onset autosomal dominant form on chromosome 14, another gene on chromosome 1, and the risk-modifying gene apolipoprotein E on Chromosome 19. The etiology is heterogeneous and complex, and additional Alzheimer's disease genes remain to be found. The genes identified in the inherited forms are now being used to understand the pathogenesis of the disease.