# Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk in early‐ and late‐onset Alzheimer's disease

## TL;DR

This study explores the genetic risk for early-onset Alzheimer's disease using polygenic scores from late-onset Alzheimer's, finding limited predictive power but some biomarker associations.

## Contribution

The study evaluates the relevance of late-onset Alzheimer's polygenic risk in early-onset cases, revealing novel biomarker associations despite limited predictive value.

## Key findings

- LOAD polygenic scores were elevated in both EOAD and LOAD but did not significantly predict EOAD risk or cognitive performance.
- Higher LOAD PGS was associated with lower amyloid PET Centiloids and lower CSF Aβ42 in EOAD.
- Increased LOAD PGS was linked to higher CSF SNAP-25 levels, suggesting synaptic or protein aggregation dysregulation.

## Abstract

The genetic basis of sporadic early‐onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) remains largely unknown, prompting evaluation of late‐onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) polygenic risk in EOAD.

A LOAD polygenic score (PGS) was calculated in the Longitudinal Early‐onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study and tested for associations with AD risk, cognitive performance, and imaging and fluid biomarkers.

Though PGS was elevated in LOAD and EOAD, it was not a significant predictor of EOAD adjusting for APOE ε4 carrier status and was not associated with age of EOAD onset (p = 0.106) or with cognitive performance (p = 0.417). In LEADS, greater LOAD PGS was associated with differences in neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers, including elevated synaptosomal‐associated protein 25 (SNAP‐25) (p = 2.3 × 10−5).

While LOAD polygenic risk contributed minimally to EOAD onset and cognitive dysfunction, PGS association with fluid biomarkers in LEADS suggests a role for LOAD polygenic risk in EOAD pathophysiology.

LOAD PGSs were elevated in both LOAD and EOAD compared to controls; however, LOAD PGS did not significantly predict EOAD risk, age at onset, or cognitive performance independent of APOE ε4 in the LEADS.Higher LOAD PGS was associated with lower amyloid PET Centiloids (less brain amyloid deposition) as well as lower CSF biomarker Aβ42 in LEADS (proxy marker suggesting higher brain amyloid deposition) in LEADS; these contradictory findings support the need for larger studies to further investigate whether LOAD PGS is associated with increased amyloid deposition in EOAD.Higher LOAD PGS was also associated with higher levels of CSF synaptosomal‐associated protein 25 (SNAP‐25), a key component of the SNARE complex, suggesting that LOAD genetic factors may contribute to dysregulation of synaptic transmission and/or pathological protein aggregation in EOAD.

LOAD PGSs were elevated in both LOAD and EOAD compared to controls; however, LOAD PGS did not significantly predict EOAD risk, age at onset, or cognitive performance independent of APOE ε4 in the LEADS.

Higher LOAD PGS was associated with lower amyloid PET Centiloids (less brain amyloid deposition) as well as lower CSF biomarker Aβ42 in LEADS (proxy marker suggesting higher brain amyloid deposition) in LEADS; these contradictory findings support the need for larger studies to further investigate whether LOAD PGS is associated with increased amyloid deposition in EOAD.

Higher LOAD PGS was also associated with higher levels of CSF synaptosomal‐associated protein 25 (SNAP‐25), a key component of the SNARE complex, suggesting that LOAD genetic factors may contribute to dysregulation of synaptic transmission and/or pathological protein aggregation in EOAD.