https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Potentially more than 90% of Alzheimer's disease cases would not occur without the contribution of a single gene (APOE), according to a new analysis led by UCL researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-alzheimer-cases-linked-variants-gene.html Fri, 09 Jan 2026 09:06:04 EST news687171902 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive degradation of brain cells, as well as an associated decline in memory and other mental functions. Earlier research found that different forms (i.e., alleles) of a gene known as apolipoprotein E (APOE) are associated with an increased or decreased risk of developing AD. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-alleles-alzheimer-disease-signatures-disruptions.html Mon, 01 Dec 2025 08:20:01 EST news683547647 University of Kentucky researchers have developed a new experimental model that could point the way toward more effective Alzheimer's disease treatments by targeting one of the brain's most important genes for risk and resilience. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-gene-reverses-alzheimer-experimental.html Mon, 17 Nov 2025 14:40:26 EST news682612818 A new study, published today in Nature Communications, offers clues into how APOE isoforms differentially affect human microglia function in Alzheimer's disease. The study, led by Dr. Sarah Marzi and Dr. Kitty Murphy at the UK Dementia Research Institute at King's College London and the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, underscores the need for new targeted interventions based on APOE genotypes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-versions-apoe-protein-varying-effects.html Tue, 27 May 2025 14:14:03 EDT news667574041 In healthy brains, immune cells called microglia patrol for damage, clearing away debris and harmful proteins. But in the presence of the APOE4 protein—the most important genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease—the same cells cause harmful inflammation and clumps of misfolded proteins, according to a new study by scientists at Gladstone Institutes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-brain-immune-cells-amplify-alzheimer.html Mon, 04 Nov 2024 15:50:58 EST news649957852 A new study helps explain why having ApoE4—the gene variant most closely linked to Alzheimer's disease—increases the risk of neurodegeneration and white matter damage. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-immune-cells-linked-blood-vessel.html Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:05:44 EDT news645973539 A study, titled "Single-cell transcriptomic Atlas of aging macaque ocular outflow tissues" appearing in Protein & Cell, delves into the age-related changes in the trabecular meshwork (TM) of macaques, which are vital for regulating intraocular pressure and maintaining eye health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-macaque-insights-future-clinical-diagnosis.html Thu, 11 Jul 2024 14:52:03 EDT news639928321 Scientists have discovered a new piece of the puzzle in understanding why some people are more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. The research has been published in the journal Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-genetic-clue-alzheimer.html Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:42:04 EDT news638181721 A team of neurologists affiliated with multiple institutions in Spain and the U.S. has found evidence that suggests up to 20% of all cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be attributable to double copies of the APOE4 gene. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-apoe4-gene-alzheimer-cases.html Sun, 12 May 2024 09:00:01 EDT news634290700 Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Madrid have found that one of the most potent genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4), is also associated with an increased risk of developing subclinical atherosclerosis in middle age. The study also demonstrates protection against subclinical atherosclerosis in people carrying the variant APOE2, which protects against Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-apoe-genetic-variants-linked-alzheimer.html Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:01 EST news625145775 Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a rare genetic variant known as the "Christchurch mutation" can block detrimental effects of apolipoprotein E4, the best-established risk factor for the most common form of Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-christchurch-mutation-good-overpower-evil.html Mon, 13 Nov 2023 11:00:05 EST news619095602 If you're one of the nearly 25 percent of people with the gene variant known as APOE4, you have a higher-than-average chance of developing Alzheimer's disease. But while scientists have long known that APOE4 leads to changes in the brain that can contribute to dementia, the exact mechanism of that effect has been unclear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-largest-genetic-factor-alzheimer-drug.html Fri, 20 Oct 2023 13:45:35 EDT news617028329 Hispanic Heritage Month pays tribute to the history, culture and traditions of Americans of Hispanic ancestry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-qa-homing-importance-diversity.html Wed, 11 Oct 2023 13:37:04 EDT news616250222 A team led by researchers from Mass General Brigham reports promising results for a monoclonal antibody that takes aim at a new target for Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-antibody-therapy-patient-case-tau.html Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:34:03 EDT news615641641 Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh analyzed thousands of human genomes to find new gene variations responsible for controlling the levels of blood plasma molecules linked to Alzheimer's disease risk. The findings, published recently in Molecular Psychiatry, could contribute to the future development of simple blood tests for the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09-uncover-genetic-traits-alzheimer.html Wed, 06 Sep 2023 12:07:03 EDT news613220821 A new dementia risk score, which draws on 11 mostly modifiable risk factors, identifies people at risk—from midlife onward—of developing the disease within the next 14 years, suggests a large long term study published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-score-strongly-dementia-chances-years.html Fri, 25 Aug 2023 10:36:04 EDT news612178561 Concussion and head trauma is a real and serious risk for many Australians. While most people suffer acute and relatively short-lived effects, such as dizziness and headache, in some cases symptoms persist for weeks, months or years. It can result in long-term and debilitating neurological impairment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-genetics-concussionwhy-minor-devastating-people.html Tue, 20 Jun 2023 13:01:05 EDT news606484862 Fiber intake is associated with a lower risk of developing cognitive decline in those old people with the apolipoprotein E ApoE ε4 genotype, regarded as a genetic risk factor linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This is stated in a study conducted by the Research Group on Biomarkers and Nutritional and Food Metabolomics of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona and the CIBER on Fragility and Ageing (CIBERFES). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-fiber-intake-cognitive-decline-older.html Wed, 22 Mar 2023 14:50:03 EDT news598715401 Of all the known genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the strongest is a gene for the protein called ApoE4. People with one copy of this gene are 3.5 times more likely, on average, to develop Alzheimer's than others, and those with two copies face a 12-fold increased risk. However, exactly how ApoE4 boosts the risk of Alzheimer's remains unclear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-impact-key-alzheimer-protein-brain.html Tue, 21 Feb 2023 13:23:04 EST news596208181 It's well known that carrying one copy of the APOE4 gene variant increases one's risk for Alzheimer's disease threefold and two copies about tenfold, but the fundamental reasons why and what can be done to help patients remain largely unknown. A study published by an MIT-based team Nov. 16 in Nature provides some new answers as part of a broader line of research that has demonstrated APOE4's consequences cell type by cell type in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-11-alzheimer-gene-undermines-insulation-brain.html Wed, 16 Nov 2022 11:00:01 EST news587818689 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia, affecting more than 5.8 million individuals in the U.S. Scientists have discovered some genetic variants that increase the risk for developing Alzheimer's; the most well-known of these for people over the age of 65 is the APOE ε4 allele. Although the association between APOE4 and increased AD risk is well-established, the mechanisms responsible for the underlying risk in human brain cell types has been unclear until now. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-untangle-apoe4-gene-significant-genetic.html Thu, 23 Jun 2022 11:50:03 EDT news575203801 The APOE4 gene is the most powerful genetic factor driving a person's risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-mutant-gene-at-risk-people-alzheimer.html Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:28:41 EDT news573305318 The brain has a natural protective mechanism against Alzheimer's disease, and researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and collaborating institutions have discovered that gene variants associated with risk of developing the disease disturb the protective mechanism in ways that can lead to neurodegeneration. The researchers also showed in a fruit fly model of the condition that a chemical known as ABCA1 agonist can restore certain alterations of the brain protective mechanism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-neuroprotective-mechanism-alzheimer-disease-genes.html Tue, 28 Dec 2021 10:16:51 EST news559909003 New research published in Stem Cell Reports has found elevated cholesterol supply from astrocytes to neurons in the model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains, suggesting that modulating brain cholesterol could be explored in the search of treatment options for the devastating, degenerative disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-stem-cells-genetic-alzheimer-disease.html Thu, 26 Aug 2021 11:00:07 EDT news549188020 Like amyloid plaque, the genetic variant APOE4 has long been associated with Alzheimer's disease, but still little is known about the role the gene plays in the disease process. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-potential-treatment-alzheimer-disease.html Mon, 14 Jun 2021 12:12:48 EDT news542891565 People who have a gene variant associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease also tend to have changes in the fluid around their brain and spinal cord that are detectable years before symptoms arise, according to new research from Duke Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-spinal-fluid-people-alzheimer-gene.html Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:19:29 EST news532282765 Genetics contributes to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and the APOE gene is the strongest genetic risk factor, specifically the APOE4 allele. However, it has been known for a while that the risk due to the APOE4 allele differs considerably across populations, with Europeans having a greater risk from the APOE4 allele than Africans and African Americans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-genetics-ancestral-background-affect-alzheimer.html Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:06:07 EST news531659164 In a new study, a team of scientists based at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research reveals evidence showing that the most prominent Alzheimer's disease risk gene may disrupt a fundamental process in a key type of brain cell. Moreover, in a sign of how important it is to delve into the complex ways that genes intersect in disease, they found that increasing the expression of another Alzheimer's-associated gene in those cells could help alleviate the problem. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-alzheimer-gene-disrupts-endocytosis-disease-linked.html Tue, 06 Oct 2020 11:00:02 EDT news521182875 From Alzheimer's to obesity, life can change dramatically if you discover you have a genetic risk of disease. Now, a new study from the Australian Centre for Precision Health, University of South Australia is challenging these predispositions, showing that some of the genes traditionally labeled as 'bad' are not always what they seem. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-decoding-genetics-disease.html Tue, 15 Sep 2020 12:40:01 EDT news519391852 By developing a lab-engineered model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB), neuroscientists at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have discovered how the most common Alzheimer's disease risk gene causes amyloid protein plaques to disrupt the brain's vasculature and showed they could prevent the damage with medications already approved for human use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-path-alzheimer-blood-brain-barrier-impairment.html Mon, 08 Jun 2020 11:00:05 EDT news510817917