{"id":89417,"date":"2025-07-24T19:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89417\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T19:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:31:07","slug":"ms-may-increase-risk-of-alzheimers-new-genetic-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89417\/","title":{"rendered":"MS may increase risk of Alzheimer’s: New genetic analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multiple sclerosis<\/a> (MS) may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>, according to a new analysis of genetic data.<\/p>\n

The findings indicate genetic changes that influence the activity of immune T-cells<\/a> may play a role in both MS and Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The study, \u201cMultiple sclerosis as a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer\u2019s disease: Insights from Mendelian randomisation<\/a>,\u201d was published in\u00a0Neurodegenerative Disease Management.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Damage to the brain seen in MS, Alzheimer\u2019s<\/p>\n

MS is a disorder marked by inflammation that causes damage to healthy cells in the brain and spinal cord. Damage to the brain is also seen in Alzheimer\u2019s, a form of dementia, and a growing body of evidence suggests abnormal brain inflammation plays a role in driving the disease.<\/p>\n

Recent research has indicated people diagnosed with MS<\/a> are more likely than the general public to develop Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>, but the biological connections between these two disorders aren\u2019t fully understood.<\/p>\n

In this study, a team led by scientists in India investigated the relationship between MS and Alzheimer\u2019s using a genetic analysis technique called Mendelian randomization.<\/p>\n

In essence, the scientists identified genetic changes known to influence the risk of MS, then looked to see if those changes are more common among people with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. If MS-related variants are more common in Alzheimer\u2019s, it would support the idea that MS itself may predispose a person toward Alzheimer\u2019s, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n

Results revealed 44 genetic variations known to influence MS risk that also showed similar associations with Alzheimer\u2019s. These associations suggest \u201cthat genetic predisposition to MS may increase the risk of developing [Alzheimer\u2019s],\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

After identifying the variants associated with both MS and Alzheimer\u2019s, the researchers conducted a series of analyses to look at the functions of the implicated genes. The scientists found many of the genes are associated with the activity of immune cells called T-cells, particularly with subsets of T-cells called T-helper cells.<\/p>\n

These immune cells act as marshals of the immune system, releasing signaling molecules to help coordinate the activity of various immune cells. The researchers speculated that genetic changes affecting T-helper cell activity might help set the stage for both MS and Alzheimer\u2019s, lending further support to the idea that these two diseases are biologically linked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaken together, these findings reinforce the notion of a causal effect of MS on [Alzheimer\u2019s], particularly mediated by immune-regulatory mechanisms involving T-helper cell differentiation,\u201d the scientists wrote.<\/p>\n

A notable limitation of this analysis was that the genetic database the researchers used specifically included individuals of European descent. A similar analysis was conducted using a database of African Americans, but the researchers weren\u2019t able to detect genetic variations with statistically significant results, likely because that database was much smaller. The scientists emphasized a need to validate these findings in more diverse populations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Multiple sclerosis (MS) may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to a new analysis of genetic…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[815,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-89417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114909877971423811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}