Background and purpose: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which is the most common cause of dementia in elderly. Fibroblast growth factor 1(FGF1) selectively protects neurons against neurotoxic effects. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the G/A (rs34011) FGF1 gene polymorphism and Alzheimer’s disease in southwest of Iran.

Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted in which 89 AD patients and 73 healthy subjects enrolled. Genotypes were determined by the PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) technique in two groups. 

Results: The АА genotype frequencies were 11% and 4.3% in patients and controls, respectively. The А allele frequencies in AD patients and controls were 38.8% and 30.1% respectively.  Significant differences were seen in the frequencies of AA genotypes and A-alleles between the patients and control group (P=0.028 and P=0.015, respectively). Also, when the samples were classified according to gender, significant differences were found in the frequencies of AA genotypes (P=0.033) and A-alleles (P=0.008) between female subjects in patients with AD and controls.

Conclusion: This study suggests that (G/A) (rs34011) FGF1 gene polymorphism could be associated with AD in southwest of Iran. Also, the FGF1 gene AA genotype frequency or A allele frequency might be a genetic risk factor for developing AD.