-1154G/A and -2578C/A polymorphisms of the vascular endothelial growth factor gene in Tunisian Alzheimer patients in relation to beta-amyloid (1-42) and total tau protein.

Recent evidences indicate that polymorphisms within the promoter region of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene may elevate the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). To further investigate, we have analyzed association between promoter polymorphisms of the VEGF gene in 93 AD patients and age and sex matched 113 controls from Tunisian population. The distribution of genotype and allele frequencies of the VEGF (-2578C/A) and (-1154G/A) polymorphisms did not differ significantly between AD and control groups (p>0.05). In the subgroup of ApoE varepsilon4 carriers, the -2578A was observed to be significantly higher in the AD patients than in the control individuals. After adjusting the data by gender, age and the ApoE varepsilon4 status using logistic regression, the -2578A allele was found to increase the risk for sporadic AD by 1.7-fold. The present study provides the evidence that the -2578A allele may be associated with the development of AD in the individuals with ApoE varepsilon4 allele. In addition, AD patients carrying the -2578A allele had lower Abeta42 (p=0.029) levels than those without this allele, particularly in subjects with ApoE varepsilon4 allele.