Alzheimer’s and heart disease may share common genetic origins, study finds

A new study has uncovered genes that could be related to heart conditions and Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that the two could have similar origins.
Researchers said that evidence increasingly links people having the heart condition with a quicker cognitive decline and a 26 per cent increased risk of dementia, affecting one’s memory and thinking, and interfering with daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.
Coronary artery disease is a condition in which blood flow to the heart is restricted due to narrowing of blood vessels.
Even as abnormal levels of fat in blood and inflammation could be possible shared risk factors between having coronary artery disease and developing Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers at Edith Cowan University, Australia, said that the processes underlying the link remain unclear.
In this study, they employed genetic methods to examine the intricate relationship between heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
The team chose to study seven heart disease-related factors, such as coronary artery disease and angina, and 13 lipids, including cholesterol – both ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Previous studies have long suggested lipids to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, they said.
“Our comprehensive analysis reveals a significant and positive global genetic correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and three lipid traits: LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol), triglycerides, and total cholesterol,” the authors wrote in the study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
This suggests that certain lipids, not all, may have a more direct genetic link with Alzheimer’s disease, they said.
However, many of the lipids that the authors studied were genetically related with coronary artery disease.
“Specifically, we found significant genetic correlations between coronary artery disease traits and lipid profiles such as HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, aligning with the existing literature that underscores the genetic interplay in cardiovascular risk factors,” they wrote.
By applying genetic approaches to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and coronary artery disease, we have uncovered novel insights into the underlying mechanisms linking these conditions, corresponding author Emmanuel Adewuyi, from Edith Cowan University, said.