Association between Alzheimer’s disease-related genes and neurodegenerative blood-based biomarkers in Indian adults

Abstract

Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias are a growing health and economic burden in India. Blood levels of amyloid beta (Ab), tau, and other proteins marking neuronal injury are biomarkers of AD risk and are potentially important for AD prevention. Methods In 2,224 participants from the Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD), we performed gene-based analyses on (1) missense/loss-of-function (LoF) single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and (2) brain-specific promoter/enhancer SNVs across 84 genes selected from AD GWAS and 25 gene-biomarker pairs selected from biomarker GWAS. We used variant-Set Test for Association using Annotation infoRmation (STAAR) across 7 neurodegenerative biomarkers measured in blood: Ab40, Ab42, Ab42/Ab40, total tau (tTau), tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (pTau), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light chain (NfL). We adjusted for age, sex, and genetic ancestry, with random intercepts for genetic relatedness and biomarker plate. Analyses incorporated weighted annotation scores (e.g., deleteriousness). Significant results (FDR-q < 0.1) were followed up with single variant analysis. Genes were also assessed for sex- and age-interactions using iSKAT. Results Missense/LoF variants in 6 AD-associated genes (ECHDC3, CLU, APOE, EPHA1, ICA1L, CASS4) and 1 biomarker-associated gene (APOE) were associated with Ab40, Ab42/Ab40, pTau, and/or GFAP (FDR q < 0.1), with the most significant SNVs tending to be rare/low-frequency (MAF ≤ 0.05) and potentially deleterious. Promoter/enhancer variants in 1 AD-associated gene (CCDC6) were associated with Ab42/Ab40, with the index SNV being a potentially deleterious common variant (MAF = 0.27). Several associated variants appeared to have higher frequency in India compared to other global populations. Missense/LoF SNVs in two AD genes (EPHA1, MS4A6A) had sex-specific effects on Ab42 and/or tTau, and promoter/enhancer SNVs in four AD genes (DGKQ, MS4A6A, MS4A4A, JAZF1) had sex-specific effects on tTau and/or pTau. Missense variants in 12 AD genes and promoter/enhancer variants in two AD genes showed interaction with age on at least one biomarker, primarily GFAP and NfL with genetic effects tending to be stronger at older ages. Conclusion Rare and common variants in AD- and neurodegenerative biomarker-associated genes with increased frequency in India compared to other populations may impact blood levels of neurodegenerative biomarkers in South Asians.