The role of NOTCH3 variants in Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia in the Chinese population

Aims NOTCH3 gene mutations predominantly cause cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, a common etiology of subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD). Besides, there may be a pathogenic link between NOTCH3 variants and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to study the role of NOTCH3 variants in AD and SVaD patients. Methods We recruited 763 patients with dementia (667 AD and 96 SVaD) and 365 healthy controls from the Southern Han Chinese population. Targeted capture sequencing was performed on NOTCH3 coding and adjacent intron regions to detect the pathogenic variants in AD and SVaD. The relationship between common or rare NOTCH3 variants and AD was further analyzed using Plink1.9. Results Five known pathogenic variants (p.R182C, p.C201S, p.R544C, p.R607C, and p.R1006C) and two novel likely pathogenic variants (p.C201F and p.C1061F) were detected in 16 SVaD patients. Additionally, no pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were found in AD patients. NOTCH3 was not associated with AD in either single-variant association analysis or gene-based association analysis. Conclusion Our findings broaden the mutational spectrum of NOTCH3 and validate the pathogenic role of NOTCH3 mutations in SVaD, but do not support the notion that NOTCH3 variation influences the risk of AD.

Automated summary

This study identified multiple pathogenic variants of NOTCH3, confirming its pathological role in SVaD, but found no association with AD.