The very long (VL) poly-T variant at rs10524523 ("523") of the TOMM40 gene may hasten the onset of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) and induce more profound cognitive impairment compared with the short (S) poly-T variant.
The incident case study comparing patients who developed AD during longitudinal observation (n = 152) with participants with no cognitive impairment found that rs2075650 (TOMM40) and rs3865444 (CD33) influence the risk of developing AD in this population.
We found 2 independent associations among European-Americans in the 19q13.32 region: rs769449 (APOE intron; p = 3.1 × 10(-20)) and rs115881343 (TOMM40 intron; p = 6.6 × 10(-11)). rs769449 was also associated with cognitive decline among African-Americans (p = 0.005), but rs115881343 was not.