ANALYSIS OF THE BUTYRYLCHOLINESTERASE GENE AND NEARBY CHROMOSOME-3 MARKERS IN ALZHEIMER-DISEASE

The K-variant of butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE-K) recently has been repo rted to be associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) in carriers of the e psilon 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. We have re-examin ed the frequency of the BCHE-K allele in a large data set of both spor adic and familial cases of AD disease, and we have also examined the s egregation of three genetic markers on chromosome 3 near BCHE. Our dat a neither support an association of BCHE-K with sporadic or familial A D, nor do they suggest the existence of another gene nearby on chromos ome 3 as a common cause of familial AD.