Alzheimer's disease, genes, and environment: The value of international studies

作者：Hendrie HC^*; Hall KS; Ogunniyi A; Gao SJ

来源：Canadian Journal of Psychiatry-Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 2004, 49(2): 92-99.

• epidemiology
• international studies
• African American
• Yoruba genetic
• environmental

Objective: To describe the construction of a disease model incorporating both genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), using data generated from the Indianapolis-lbadan dementia project (I-IDP).
Method: The I-IDP is a longitudinal comparative study of the prevalence and incidence of dementia in 2 communities: elderly African Americans living in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Yoruba living in lbadan, Nigeria.
Results: African Americans are more than twice as likely as Yoruba to develop AD. Possible explanations for this finding include genetic factors: the possession of the apolipoprotein E epsilon(4) allele does not increase risk for AD among Yoruba but confers a slight increase in AD risk for African Americans. As well, environmental factors may play a role: African Americans have a higher risk of vascular risk factors than do Yoruba.
Conclusions: International comparative studies, particularly those involving populations from developing and developed countries, offer a unique opportunity for applying new in formation regarding population genetics to traditional AD risk factor research.

• 出版日期2004-2