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Genetic Burden and APOE Methylation in a Korean Multi-Generational Alzheimer’s Disease Family: An Exploratory Multi-Omics Case Study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibits high heritability (60–80%), yet individual-level genetic risk prediction remains challenging. While APOE ε4 is the strongest genetic risk factor, incomplete penetrance complicates risk assessment. Methods: We analyzed seven blood-related members across three generations using the Korean Chip v2.0 genotyping (~1.2 M SNPs) and Illumina EPICv2 DNA methylation profiling. Genetic burden score (GBS) was calculated by summing risk alleles across 320 variants in six AD-associated genes (APOE, PICALM, CLU, CR1, BIN1, and ABCA7). Results: An unexpected pattern was observed in this family: the affected individual (J-003) had the lowest GBS (39 alleles), while individuals with higher genetic burden (51–61 alleles) remained cognitively healthy. J-003 also exhibited lower APOE methylation (β = 0.495) compared to the family mean (β = 0.523). CR1 contributed the most risk alleles across the family, followed by PICALM. Conclusions: This single-case observation cannot establish causality, generalizability, or biological significance. The affected individual’s lower APOE methylation may represent a causal factor, disease consequence, or coincidental variation—scenarios that cannot be distinguished from this dataset. Validation in larger cohorts with multiple affected individuals is required to determine whether integrated multi-omics approaches can inform personalized risk assessment in familial contexts.

Source: Journal of Personalized Medicine

DOI: 10.3390/jpm16020066