Approved Research

Polygenic risk scores and causal contributions between cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease

Lay summary

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a highly heritable, common and fatal neurodegenerative disease among older people. Many putative risk factors have been reported to be associated with AD in epidemiological studies but their potential causal relationship to AD pathogenesis is poorly understood. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and early detection and treatment of individuals at risk for CVD can significantly reduce CV morbidity and mortality. CVD has been considered one of risk factors for AD but its potential causal relationship to AD pathogenesis is poorly understood. In this project we will construct composite polygenic risk scores (PRS) for both CVD and AD by integrating corresponding risk factors for CVD and AD and study their causal relationship. In addition, we will search rare variants associated with CVD, AD and their risk factors using the whole genome and whole exome sequencing data from the UK Biobank.