Cholesterol, lipid metabolism, and incidence of AD in African Americans

 
   Lead Investigator:    Rena Robinson
   Institution      :    University of Pittsburgh
   E-Mail           :    rena@pitt.edu
   Proposal ID      :    729



   Proposal Description:
   African Americans are two to three times more likely to develop Alzheimer?s disease than persons of European ancestry. Lipid metabolism appears to be extremely important in AD and because African Americans have higher incidence of high cholesterol, vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis and dardiovascular disease, lipid metabolism may be a molecular factor that can help to explain this health disparity. Our central hypothesis is that alterations in cholesterol and lipid metabolism in the periphery can help to explain higher incidence of AD in African Americans. We have two aims to test this hypothesis: 1) To identify whether differences exist in fatty acid oxidation, lipid biosynthesis and degradation, cholesterol synthesis and transport and lipid transport pathways in post-morterm brain of African American Alzheimer?s patients and 2) to determine whether brain lipid metabolism processes in African American Alzheimer?s patients are similar in plasma from African American Alzheimer?s patients.