β-Amyloid in Cognitively Unimpaired Individuals—Blame Mom?

Dubal and Elser discuss beta-amyloid in cognitively unimpaired individuals. Family history is one of the biggest risk factors--behind advanced age--for developing late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). This is especially true if the family history involves a first-degree relative, such as a parent, increasing AD risk by at least 2- to 4-fold. A history of parents with AD increases risk in offspring for reasons that may be biological, sociocultural, or both. In late-onset AD, mounting studies support a preferential risk of developing AD with a maternal, but not paternal, history of the disease. Maternal transmission of AD may be rooted in biological origins related to passing on the maternal X chromosome, mitochondria, and specific genomic imprinting (or silencing of genes) to offspring. More maternal history of AD in a family could also result from gender disparities and secular trends.