["Cathepsin D, the most abundant lysosomal and endosomal aspartyl protease, shows beta and gamma secretase activity in vitro by cleaving the amyloid precursor protein (APP) into amyloid beta protein (Aβ). Polymorphism at position 224, C224T, on exon 2 of cathepsin D gene (CTSD) has been associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) by some investigators, but there have been contrary findings by others. However, an association between CTSD polymorphism and vascular dementia (VaD) has not been reported thus far.", 'To investigate whether a polymorphism at CTSD C224T is associated with VaD in the Korean population.', 'We compared the genotype and allele frequencies at this polymorphism site in clinically assessed 162 VaD patients with those in 197 healthy Koreans.'] Is genetic polymorphism in exon 2 of cathepsin D associated with vascular dementia?