Cerebral palsy gene spotted

A form of a gene - apoliprotein E (APOE) - that increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease in adults can also increase the likelihood of cerebral palsy in brain-injured newborns, say researchers at Children's Memorial Research Centre in Chicago.

They compared 209 children with cerebral palsy and a matched group of healthy children and found that the E4 allele (form) of APOE was associated with a three-fold increased risk of cerebral palsy. Another allele - E2 - was also associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy.

Their study, the first to identify a gene that increases susceptibility to cerebral palsy, appears in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers said their findings may enable early identification of children at risk for poor neuro-development outcomes after they suffer brain injury as newborns. These children could then be targeted for early therapeutic intervention.

Adults who carry the E4 allele of the APOE gene are more likely to develop Alzheimer's and have worse outcomes after stroke and other kinds of brain injuries. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
New clues to cerebral palsy
A-Z of Cerebral palsy

February 2007