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The following is a summary of “Investigating the causal relationship between immune cell and Alzheimer’s disease: a mendelian randomization analysis,” published in the March 2024 issue of Neurology by Shen et al.
Researchers concluded a retrospective study to investigate further the link between immune system inflammation and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
They utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to explore the causal link between immune cell traits and AD risk, employing genetic variants as instrumental variables. MR, an epidemiological study design reliant on genetic data, mitigates the impacts of confounding and reverse causation. Analyzing the causal connections between 731 immune cell traits and AD risk was conducted based on publicly accessible genetic data.
The results showed that 5 immune cell traits protected AD, whereas 7 immune cell traits increased AD risk. Immune cell traits were primarily related to T cell regulation, monocyte activation, and B cell differentiation. Findings indicate that immune regulation may impact AD development, offering insights into potential AD prevention and treatment targets. Various sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess result validity and robustness, revealing no evidence of pleiotropy or heterogeneity.
Investigators concluded that immune regulation plays a role in AD, highlighting potential targets for future therapies but acknowledged limitations requiring further investigation.
Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-024-03599-y