Roles of the Tau Gene Short Tandem Repeats in Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the roles of Tau gene short tandem repeats (STRs) nested within intron 1 (rs5820604 and rs10675722) and Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphisms in 70 late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects, 70 vascular dementia (VD) subjects, and 70 normal controls (NCs) in Guizhou Han population. Our data suggest that the Tau gene STR loci rs5820604 (CA)₁₉ allele may increase the risk of AD, whereas the (CA)₁₆ allele may be protective. The Tau gene STR loci rs10675722 (TA)₁₇ allele may increase the risk for AD and VD. In addition, a synergistic effect of polymorphisms in ApoE ε4 and Tau gene STR loci rs5820604 (CA)₁₉ allele was found in the pathogenesis of AD (p = .025, OR [odds ratio] = 3.178, 95% CI [confidence interval] = 1.156–8.741).

KEYWORDS: :

• intron
• late-onset Alzheimer’s disease
• short tandem repeats
• Tau gene
• vascular dementia