Evaluation of risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease
Date
1997Author
Kalaria, R. N.
Ogeng'o, Julius A
Patel, N. B.
Sayi, J. G.
Kitinya, J. N.
Chande, H. M.
Matuja, W. B.
Mtui, E. P.
Kimani, JK
Premkumar, D. R. D.
Koss, E.
Gatere, S.
Friedland, R. P.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A number of biological risk factors have been implicated
for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The investigation of prevalence
rates of AD in crosscultural populations has much potential
in validating these factors. We previously assessed brain
amyloid b (Ab) protein deposition and other lesions associated
with AD as possible markers for preclinical AD in elderly nondemented
East Africans. In further analysis, we demonstrate
that 17–19% of elderly East African subjects without clinical
neurological disease exhibited neocortical Ab deposits and
minimal neurofibrillary changes at necropsy that was qualitatively
and quantitatively similar to that in an age-matched elderly
control sample from Cleveland, OH. Ab deposits varied
from numerous diffuse to highly localized neuritic plaques and
were predominantly reactive for the longer Ab42 species. In
parallel studies, we evaluated another recently implicated factor
in AD, the apolipoprotein E genotype. We found relatively
high frequencies of the apolipoprotein E-e4 allele in elderly
nondemented East Africans. The frequencies were comparable
to those in other African populations but higher than in subjects
from developed countries. Our limited study suggests that elderly
East Africans acquire cerebral lesions found in AD subjects
but the apolipoprotein E-e4 allele may not be a highly
specific factor for the disease among East Africans
URI
http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/10233http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9365800
Citation
Brain Research BulletinCollections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10377]