Association analysis of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism located within the linkage region on chromosome 10 and Alzheimer’s disease

Epidemiological studies identified a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among subjects with elevated cholesterol levels. This association may be caused by a modulation of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing in response to the cellular cholesterol content. High cholesterol levels may favor the amyloidogenic pathway by inhibition of the α-secretase probably leading to elevated beta-Amyloid (Aβ) production. The identification of a linkage peak on chromosome 10q using high Aβ as quantitative trait led us to examine polymorphisms of genes located on chromosome 10 involved in cholesterol metabolism, like Lipase A (LIPA), Cholesterol 25 hydroxylase (CH25H), and FLJ22476, a high density lipoprotein binding related protein. Using 286 patients with AD and 162 controls we analyzed several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within LIPA, CH25H, and FLJ22476. None of the polymorphisms showed significant association with AD which contradicts recent findings on CH25H. From our results we conclude that the investigated genetic variations do not contribute to the genetic risk of AD.