Nationwide Study of Environmental Risk Factors and Candidate Gene-Environment Interactions in Neurodegenerative Disorders in Nigeria (SERGEND)

Environmental exposures and genetic (inherited) factors can increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders. The most prevalent and burdensome of these disorders are Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) and Parkinson disease and atypical parkinsonisms (PDAP). The accompanying disability and increased mortality indicate a need to find modifiable risk factors that can be incorporated into lifestyle through population-wide strategies. Despite much progress in other populations, very little is known about the contributions of environmental and genetic factors to these conditions in Nigeria and sub Saharan Africa. This study proposes to address this gap by studying the environmental exposures and genetic differences in persons with ADRD and PDAP, compared to normal controls of similar age, gender, education and ethnicity. The specific individual and combined effects of putative environmental exposures and variability in selected important genetic susceptibility loci (APOE and SNCA) will be explored. We propose that the results will be applicable in expanding our understanding of the mechanisms underlying risk of ADRD and PDAP in Nigerians, and provide a foundation for developing strategies for risk modification. The aim of this observational study is to investigate the effect of specific environmental exposures and genetic variability on risk of developing ADRD and PDAP in our population. This will form the basis for population-wide interventions targeted at modifiable risk factors, and aimed at reducing the burden of neurodegenerative diseases in Nigeria.