A multi-ancestry polygenic risk score for Alzheimer disease is associated with cognitive decline, hippocampal atrophy and neuropathological hallmarks in diverse populations

Abstract

Alzheimer disease (AD) has a strong genetic basis, yet previously derived polygenic risk scores (PRS) are heavily weighted by the APOE locus and perform inconsistently across diverse ancestries. We developed an APOE-independent multi-ancestry AD PRS using genome-wide association study summary statistics from cohorts in the United States, Europe and East Asia that were applied to European ancestry (EA), African American (AA), Caribbean Hispanic (CH), and East Asian cohorts from the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium. PRS performance was evaluated in the multi-ancestry Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) dataset and validated in several additional multi-ancestry cohorts. The PRS was significantly associated with AD in the ADSP EA, AA, CH, and Native American Hispanic groups with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) between 1.14 and 1.52 per standard deviation of the PRS. PRS performance was validated in the replication cohorts (ORs 1.21-1.65). The PRS was also associated with poorer memory, executive function, and language performance; greater AD-related neuropathological burden (including CERAD, Braak stage, and Thal phase scores); reduced hippocampal volume; lower CSF Aβ42; and elevated total tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau), with stronger p-tau associations observed in women. Longitudinal analyses revealed that individuals in the highest PRS decile exhibited the steepest cognitive decline, particularly among those who progressed to AD. Our findings demonstrate the utility of an ancestry-aware and APOE-independent PRS for advancing understanding of the genetic basis of AD across diverse populations. Associations observed with early biological and cognitive changes and potential sex-specific differences support the incorporation of a PRS in clinical trials and personalized intervention and prevention strategies.