Pericak-Vance M A, Haines J L
Duke University Medical Center, Division of Neurology, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Trends Genet. 1995 Dec;11(12):504-8. doi: 10.1016/s0168-9525(00)89161-1.
Alzheimer disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. Less than a decade ago, it was questioned as to whether or not genes were even involved in anything but rare early onset AD. Since that time, using a variety of genetic epidemiological and molecular biological techniques, four loci have been identified that play a role in the genetic susceptibility of AD. AD presents as a prototype of the power of genetic techniques in defining the etiology of a complex disease.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是老年人痴呆症的主要病因。不到十年前，人们还在质疑基因是否仅与罕见的早发性AD有关，而与其他情况无关。从那时起，通过使用各种遗传流行病学和分子生物学技术，已经确定了四个在AD遗传易感性中起作用的基因座。AD成为了遗传技术在确定复杂疾病病因方面强大作用的一个典范。
