ALTERNATIVE SPLICING AND THE AGING BRAIN IN AFRABIA: NEW FRONTIERS IN DEMENTIA RESEARCH

Abstract

AfrAbia, encompassing the Sub‑Saharan Africa and the Arab world, is undergoing rapid demographic change. Although still a relatively young region, its population aged ≥60 years is projected to rise from approximately 74 million in 2020 to over 235 million by 2050 (United Nations, 2019). Dementia prevalence is increasing in parallel, yet epidemiological estimates and care infrastructure remain far below global needs. Here, we highlight the urgent need to integrate molecular biology, especially alternative pre‑mRNA splicing, into AfrAbian dementia research. Alternative splicing (AS) generates proteomic diversity in the brain and undergoes characteristic shifts with aging. AS dysregulation has been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and related disorders. However, Africans and Arabs are markedly underrepresented in transcriptomic studies, and virtually no data exist on splicing patterns in AfrAbian brains. We outline key demographic and dementia trends in AfrAbia, summarize current knowledge of AS in aging and neurodegeneration, identify gaps in AfrAbian populations, and propose strategic recommendations: profiling AS in local cohorts to discover region‑specific biomarkers, resilience factors, and therapeutic targets. By framing the splicing landscape in AfrAbia, this perspective calls for regionally focused molecular research to meet the coming challenge of dementia.