Rare Immune System Gene Linked to Alzheimers

The University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine and University College London's Institute of Neurology discovered that a rare genetic mutation in the TREM2 gene - which helps trigger immune system responses - is also associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's. The researchers sequenced the genes of 1,092 people who have Alzheimer's and then a group of 1,107 people who did not have the disease. They discovered that mutations in the TREM2 gene occured much more frequently in people with the disease. One specific mutation found was R47H, which has a strong association with Alzheimer's, and makes patients three times more likely to develope the disease. "This discovery provides an increasingly firm link between brain inflammation and increased risk for Alzheimer's," says Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop. Although this mutation only affects 0.3 per cent of the population, its effect on the immune system is a strong indicator that this system may be a key player in the disease. This disocvery brings science even closer to developing treatments and interventions to end one of our most significant health challenges today.



Eventhough this discovery affects only a very small amount of patients, it opens up many new dicoveries into this disease. This could lead us to the discovery of more important genes that have a bigger impact on the disease, and I think this new finding is the start to determining what causes Alzheimers disease. Once we find out how the disease is brought on then maybe we will be able to treat or even prevent Alzheimers entirely. This article is very interesting because it shows that we are making steps to cracking this puzzeling disease.