Interleukin-1A polymorphism is not associated with late onset Alzheimer's disease

Over the past few years, association studies have proposed a number of potential genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD). With the exception of the varepsilon4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene, whose association with the late onset type of AD (LOAD) has been confirmed, the relative significance of most of these associations is still in question. A polymorphism in the interleukin-1A gene (IL-1A2) has been suggested as a risk factor for the early onset as well as for LOAD. In this study, the distribution of IL-1A alleles was examined in a cohort of predominantly LOAD patients and in control individuals. No significant difference was detected in genotype or allele frequencies (odds ratios of 0.929 and 0.743, respectively; P>0.5). We conclude that IL-1A genotype is not a major risk factor for LOAD.