Cyclooxygenase-2 Gene Polymorphisms and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A Possible Biomoleular Explanation

Beuy Joob¹, Viroj Wiwanitkit²,  
¹ Medical Center, Sanitation, Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand
² Visiting Professor, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Beuy Joob
Sanitation, Medical Academic Center, Bangkok
Thailand

Full Text



Sir,

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an important enzyme for the synthesis of prostaglandins bioprocess. COX-2 plays a role in inflammation response. There are many reports regarding the relationship between COX-2 and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In a recent meta-analysis study by Luo et al., it was concluded that “C-allele of rs20417 (-765G>C) polymorphism was associated with a reduced risk of AD, which might be a protective factor.”[1] Here, the authors used the basic quantum calculation for determining the molecular weight change in G to C type and found that there was a reduction from 151.13 to 111.1. The molecular weight reduction can imply that more energy is required for the biological process of final enzyme reaction or increased difficulty for COX-2 expression. This is concordant with the finding that increased expression of COX-2 was observed in cases with severe AD.[2] In fact, the phenomenon is the same as the molecular weight change described by quantum calculation study in previous reports on disease-related polymorphisms.[3],[4] Hence, the effect of COX-2 polymorphism on AD susceptibility can be confirmed. Nevertheless, it should be noted that there are other genes polymorphisms that might affect the susceptibility for AD. A good example is phospholipase A2 enzyme gene.[5] Clarifying the combinatorial effect among different gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility of AD is very interesting.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References