rs6859

This study examined 4960 SNP triples from five genes in the APOE region (BCAM, NECTIN2, TOMM40, APOE, APOC1) in 2789 Alzheimer's disease cases and 16,334 controls using a novel co-skewness metric to identify complex haplotypes associated with AD. The authors identified 1127 significant AD-associated SNP triples, demonstrating that complex multi-SNP haplotypes—which may not include the canonical APOE ε4 or ε2 alleles—play definitive roles in AD predisposition, with the ε4 allele showing strengthened connections to other region alleles and ε2 showing weakened connections in affected subjects.

This comprehensive genome-wide association study examined genetic variants contributing to late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) in 513 African American cases and 496 controls, plus replication in 5 white cohorts. The APOE ε4 allele showed strong association (P=9.69×10⁻²³), and after adjusting for APOE, rs6859 in PVRL2 remained significantly associated (P=0.0087). The study found associations with variants in CLU, PICALM, BIN1, EPHA1, MS4A, ABCA7, and CD33, though effect directions sometimes differed from white populations. Novel associations with suggestive evidence were identified in PROX1, CNTNAP2, STK24, and other genes, though not replicated in whites.

This 3-stage genome-wide association meta-analysis study identified 5 novel and confirmed loci associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease across over 35,000 individuals. The study discovered two new genome-wide significant loci: rs744373 in BIN1 (OR 1.13, p=1.59×10⁻¹¹) and rs597668 near EXOC3L2 (OR 1.18, p=6.45×10⁻⁹), and confirmed three previously reported loci in APOE (OR 2.53, p=1.04×10⁻²⁹⁵), CLU (OR 0.85, p=1.62×10⁻¹⁶), and PICALM (OR 0.89, p=3.16×10⁻¹²). These findings were validated in an independent Spanish replication sample of 2,349 individuals.