AI Summary
Our study found a new genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease in people of African ancestry, which is not present in European populations. This variant has a high risk for Parkinson's disease and is present in 39% of the cases studied. Understanding ancestry-specific genetic risk is important for targeted treatments in clinical trials.
Our study identified a novel genetic risk factor in GBA1 in people of African ancestry, which has not been seen in European populations, and it could be a major mechanistic basis of Parkinson’s disease in African populations. This population-specific variant exerts substantial risk on Parkinson’s disease as compared with common variation identified through GWAS and it was found to be present in 39% of the cases assessed in this study. This finding highlights the importance of understanding ancestry-specific genetic risk in complex diseases, a particularly crucial point as the Parkinson’s disease field moves towards targeted treatments in clinical trials.