ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been hypothesized that choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity might be associated with cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (2384 G/A) of ChAT was proposed to be associated with AD risk and age of onset. The aim of this study was to evaluate this polymorphism in a cohort of Chinese AD patients and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in 273 cases of sporadic AD, 97 MCI patients and 271 nondemented controls from the Chinese Han population. RESULTS: In AD, ChAT 2384 A carriers had a significantly earlier age of onset and worse individual cognitive function in Fuld Object-Memory Evaluation; in MCI, the carriers of both 2384 A and ApoE epsilon4 had a significantly earlier age of onset. CONCLUSION: ChAT 2384 A allele is a risk factor for AD and MCI.
