Association analysis of polymorphisms in STARD6 and near ECHDC3 in Alzheimer’s disease patients carrying the APOE ε4 Allele

Jiajun Yin,1 Wei Feng,2 Hongwei Yuan,3 Jianmin Yuan,1 Yue Wu,3 Xiaowei Liu,3 Chunhui Jin,1 Zaohuo Cheng3 1Brain Science Basic Laboratory, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center with Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China; 2Department of Social Prevention and Control, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center with Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China; 3Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, The Affiliated Wuxi Mental Health Center with Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China Background and purpose: Lipid metabolism plays an important role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and recent evidence suggests that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the StAR-related lipid transfer domain 6 (STARD6) and near the enzyme enoyl CoA hydratase domain containing 3 (ECHDC3) gene are related to plasma lipid levels or lipid traits in AD. Materials and methods: To identify whether the variants in or near the STARD6 and ECHDC3 genes contribute to AD susceptibility, we carried out an association analysis of STARD6 rs10164112 and ECHDC3 rs7920721 in combination with the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele in a case–control study (278 cases, 509 controls) in China. Results: We identified that SNP rs10164112 in the STARD6 gene was a risk factor associated with AD and the APOE ε4 carriers (all P