Multi-ancestry meta-analysis identifies genetic modifiers of age-at-onset of Alzheimer's disease at known and novel loci.

INTRODUCTION

Much of Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk is explained by age, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, and sex. We sought to identify genetic modifiers of age at onset (AAO) of AD while probing the influence of sex and APOE among those with diverse ancestry.

METHODS

We performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of AAO in two diverse samples followed by meta-analysis, contrasting results with and without adjustment for sex and APOE. Genome-wide significance was set to p < 5×10-8.

RESULTS

GWASs adjusting for sex, APOE, population structure, and relatedness revealed 17 significant loci including independent associations at AD risk loci and four novel signals. APOE adjustment influenced GWAS effect sizes across the genome while sex adjustment had minimal effect.

DISCUSSION: We identified association signals within a diverse but relatively small sample, replicating loci recently discovered in large European ancestry-only GWASs, and illustrated the power of using a quantitative trait like AAO over a binary diagnosis trait.

HIGHLIGHTS: Survival analysis approach identified known and novel genetic modifiers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Multi-ancestry analyses revealed independent signals at known AD loci. Apolipoprotein E adjustment influenced variant effects across the genome.