Health · Medical Research · 4 hrs ago
Alzheimer’s study identifies 48 new genetic risk loci
An international team analyzed genetic data from nearly 2.8 million people to study inherited risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers identified 127 genetic risk loci, including 48 new ones.
Their analyses linked Alzheimer’s risk to changes involving brain immune cells and neurons, and identified biological pathways for further study.
Twin studies have estimated that 60% to 80% of Alzheimer’s susceptibility is inherited, while earlier methods suggested common genetic variants explained a much smaller share.
The study highlighted five potential drug targets, but did not test them as treatments.
About 91% of the study’s effective sample came from people of European ancestry, so results were less precise in groups with smaller samples.
The findings may help guide research into treatments and risk prediction, while current disease-modifying treatments mainly target amyloid-beta and have had limited success in relieving symptoms.
Researchers identified 48 previously unreported genetic risk loci for Alzheimer’s disease in a study using genetic data from nearly 2.8 million people.
The analysis found 127 risk loci overall, including results from multi-ancestry and European-ancestry analyses.
The researchers linked genetic risk to biological pathways and processes involving microglia and neurons.
They highlighted five potential drug targets, but the study did not test them as treatments.
The study was published in Nature.
- Who
- An international team of researchers.
- What
- The team identified 48 new genetic risk loci for Alzheimer’s disease, and 127 loci overall.
- When
- The study was published on November 2, 2026.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- The researchers investigated inherited risk, biological processes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and potential targets that could inform future treatments and risk prediction.
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- Genetic data
- Nearly 2.8 million people
- Overall risk loci
- 127
- Newly identified loci
- 48
- Multi-ancestry analysis
- 118 significant loci
- European-ancestry-only analysis
- 9 additional loci
- Potential drug targets
- RRM2B, SYK, KEAP1, CACNA1S, and AXL