Risk factor for Parkinson's discovered in genes from people of African descent

A team that included scientists from Lagos, London and the U.S. found a previously unknown gene variant that can nearly quadruple the risk for people of African ancestry.

A global effort to make genetic studies more diverse has led to a discovery about Parkinson's disease, a common brain disorder that can impair a person's ability to move and speak.

A team that included scientists from Lagos, London and the U.S. found a previously unknown gene variant that can nearly quadruple the risk of Parkinson's for people of African ancestry.

The finding, published in August in The Lancet Neurology, suggests that Parkinson's may work differently in people of African, rather than European, descent. It could eventually help scientists develop a treatment specifically for people with this particular gene variant.

The gene variant was found almost exclusively in people of African descent. Those who carried a single copy of the gene were about 50% more likely to develop Parkinson's. People with two copies saw their risk increase by nearly 400%.

In people of European descent, another variant of the GBA1 gene also raises the risk for Parkinson's. But the variant found in people of African descent affects a different part of the gene and appears to have a different effect on cells.

Ekemeni Riley, managing director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, predicts there will be more discoveries about Parkinson's now that genetic studies are going global.