Over the past few years, a growing body of research has supported the idea that genetics may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia that affects some 32 million people worldwide.

Now, researchers from Boston University School of Public Health and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are adding to this concept with a new study that found 17 genetic variations - changes in DNA sequence - associated with Alzheimer's disease in five regions of the genome.

The findings are published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

For this study, the scientists used data from the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), a genetic initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health in 2012 as part of the National Alzheimer's Disease Project.

Researchers accessed information on more than 95 million genetic variants from nearly 4,600 people with or without Alzheimer's disease.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found 17 significant variants associated with Alzheimer's disease located in five regions of the genome.

According to scientists, one of the most notable genetic variants is the lysine acetyltransferase 8 (KAT8) variant.

Previous studies have shown that KAT8 is important for brain development and may play a role in the development of dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

In addition, the ADSP database gave the research team access to data on genetic variants from a wide range of ethnic groups, including black/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos, which the researchers said have historically been underrepresented in genetic studies related to Alzheimer's disease.