ABSENCE OF ASSOCIATION OF ALPHA(1)-ANTICHYMOTRYPSIN POLYMORPHISMS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE - A REPORT ON AUTOPSY-CONFIRMED CASES

alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin (ACT) polymorphisms were examined in 79 cases with autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as in 28 case s with autopsy-confirmed nonneurological diseases to test the hypothes is that ACT polymorphisms confer a risk to an individual to develop AD . Neither ACT genotype frequency nor ACT allele frequency in the AD gr oup was significantly different from the control group. The ACT polymo rphic pattern was essentially the same among apolipoprotein E (apoE) e psilon 4 carriers and noncarriers. The age at onset of AD was not sign ificantly affected by the inherited dose of ACT/A allele. Taking toget her, our observations do not confirm the effect of the ACT/A allele as a risk. factor for developing AD in addition to the ApoE epsilon 4 al lele. (C) 1998 Academic Press.