Exploring first-degree family history in a cohort of Portuguese Alzheimer's disease patients: population evidence for X-chromosome linked and recessive inheritance of risk factors.

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) heritability is estimated to be around 70-80%. Yet, much of it remains to be explained. Studying transmission patterns may help in understanding other factors contributing to the development of AD.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to search for evidence of autosomal recessive or X- and Y-linked inheritance of risk factors in a large cohort of Portuguese AD patients.

METHODS

We collected family history from patients with AD and cognitively healthy controls over 75 years of age. We compared the proportions of maternal and paternal history in male and female patients and controls (to search for evidence of X-linked and Y-linked inherited risk factors). We compared the risk of developing AD depending on parents' birthplace (same vs. different), as a proxy of remote consanguinity. We performed linear regressions to study the association of these variables with different endophenotypes.

RESULTS

We included 3090 participants, 2183 cognitively healthy controls and 907 patients with AD. Men whose mother had dementia have increased odds of developing AD comparing to women whose mother had dementia. In female patients with a CSF biomarker-supported diagnosis of AD, paternal history of dementia is associated with increased CSF phosphorylated Tau levels. People whose parents are from the same town have higher risk of dementia. In multivariate analysis, this proxy is associated with a lower age of onset and higher CSF phosphorylated tau.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study gives evidence supporting an increased risk of developing AD associated with an X-linked inheritance pattern and remote consanguinity.