2025.06.19
Transferability of European-derived Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk scores across multiancestry populations
▸ Nat Genet. 2025 Jul;57(7):1598-1610. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02227-w. Epub 2025 Jun 18.
Nicolas A et al.
Abstract
A polygenic score (PGS) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) was derived recently from data on genome-wide significant loci in European ancestry populations. We applied this PGS to populations in 17 European countries and observed a consistent association with the AD risk, age at onset and cerebrospinal fluid levels of AD biomarkers, independently of apolipoprotein E locus (APOE). This PGS was also associated with the AD risk in many other populations of diverse ancestries. A cross-ancestry polygenic risk score improved the association with the AD risk in most of the multiancestry populations tested when the APOE region was included. Finally, we found that the PGS/polygenic risk score captured AD-specific information because the association weakened as the diagnosis was broadened. In conclusion, a simple PGS captures the AD-specific genetic information that is common to populations of different ancestries, although studies of more diverse populations are still needed to better characterize the genetics of AD.
*Reprinted under a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license.
