Based on previous GWAS studies across 472,868 individuals with AD from ref. 32 and 426,824 participants with low heel bone mineral density (HBMD) from ref. 34, a shared risk locus was found in chromosome 11 between HBMD and AD among the MS4A gene family, with the closest gene as MS4A6A. A comparison of prior GWAS of up to 71,880 individuals with AD from ref. 35 and sex-stratified low HBMD GWAS (111,152 female, 166,988 male) of UK Biobank participants (https://www.nealelab.is/uk-biobank/) supports a female-specific association at the shared locus (Fig. 5c). This evidence concerns the gene MS4A6A and Alzheimer disease.