HSPG2 gene C/A polymorphism does not confer susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease in Chinese

Review of Alterations in Perlecan-Associated Vascular Risk Factors in Dementia

Perlecan is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan protein in the extracellular matrix that structurally and biochemically supports the cerebrovasculature by dynamically responding to changes in cerebral blood flow. These changes in perlecan expression seem to be contradictory, ranging from neuroprotective and angiogenic to thrombotic and linked to lipid retention. This review investigates perlecan's influence on risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and amyloid that effect Vascular contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID). VCID, a comorbidity with diverse etiology in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), is thought to be a major factor that drives the overall clinical burden of dementia. Accordingly, changes in perlecan expression and distribution in response to VCID appears to be injury, risk factor, location, sex, age, and perlecan domain dependent. While great effort has been made to understand the role of perlecan in VCID, additional studies are needed to increase our understanding of perlecan's role in health and in cerebrovascular disease.

Non-apolipoprotein E and apolipoprotein E genetics of sporadic Alzheimer's disease

The genetic epidemiology of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD) remains a very active area of research,making it one of the most prolifically published areas in medicine and biology. Numerous putative candidate genes have been proposed. However, with the exception of apolipoprotein E (APOE), the only confirmed genetic risk factor for SAD, all the other data appear to be not consistent. Nevertheless, the genetic risk for SAD attributable to the APOE gene in the general population is 20-0%, providing a strong evidence for the existence of additional genetic risk factors. The first part of the present article was dedicated to non-APOE genetics of SAD, reviewing chromosomes-by-chromosomes the available data concerning the major candidate genes. The second part of this article focused on some recently discovered aspects of the APOE polymorphism and their implications for SAD. An attempt to identify the future directions for non-APOE genetic research in SAD was also discussed.