In the largest genetic study of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) to date, researchers from the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium report the identification of 15 genetic regions newly associated with the disease, bringing to 46 the number of regions associated with CAD risk.
The team identified a further 104 independent genetic variants that are very likely to be associated with the disease, enhancing our knowledge of the genetic component that causes CAD.
They used their discoveries to identify biological pathways that underlie the disease and showed that lipid metabolism and inflammation play a significant role in CAD.
CAD and its main complication myocardial infarction (heart attack) are one of the most common causes of death in the world and approximately one in five men and one in seven women die from the disease in the UK. CAD has a strong inherited basis.
"Our research strengthens the argument that, for most of us, genetic risk to CAD is defined by many genetic variants, each of which has a modest affect," says Dr Panos Deloukas, co-lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "We went beyond traditional genetic association studies to explore likely genetic signals associated with the disease and to use the information to identify biological pathways underlying CAD.
"Our next step is to design new analyses to also test rarer variants to provide a full catalogue of disease associations that in the future, could identify individuals most at risk of a heart attack."
The Consortium spanning over 180 researchers from countries across Europe (UK, Germany, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece), Lebanon, Pakistan, Korea, USA and Canada analysed DNA from over 60,000 CAD cases and 130,000 apparently unaffected people. The researchers integrated the genetic findings into a network analysis and found the metabolism of fats being the most prominent pathway linked to CAD.
The second most prominent pathway, however, was inflammation which provides evidence at the molecular level for the link between inflammation and heart disease.
"The importance of the work is that while some of the genetic variants that we have identified work through known risk factors for CAD such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, many of the variants appear to work through unknown mechanisms," says Professor Nilesh Samani, co-lead author from the University of Leicester. "Understanding how these genetic variants affect CAD risk is the next goal and this could pave a way to developing new treatments for this important disease."
This study provides a useful framework for future projects to elucidate the biological processes underlying CAD and to investigate how genes work together to cause this disease.
Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, which co-funded the research, said: "The number of genetic variations that contribute to heart disease continues to grow with the publication of each new study. This latest research further confirms that blood lipids and inflammation are at the heart of the development of atherosclerosis, the process that leads to heart attacks and strokes.
"These studies don't take us any closer to a genetic test to predict risk of heart disease, because this is determined by the subtle interplay between dozens, if not hundreds, of minor genetic variations. The real value of these results lies in the identification of biological pathways that lead to the development of heart disease. These pathways could be targets for the development of new drug treatments in the future."
Notes to Editors
The CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium (2012) 'Large-scale association analysis identifies new risk loci for coronary artery disease'
Aileen Sheehy | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.sanger.ac.uk
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
Further reports about: > Management Insights feature > Wellcome > biological pathways > biological process > blood lipid > drug treatment > genetic variant > genetic variation > heart disease > risk factor
Enduring cold temperatures alters fat cell epigenetics
19.04.2018 | University of Tokyo
Full of hot air and proud of it
18.04.2018 | University of Pittsburgh
Neuartige hocheffiziente und brillante Quelle für Gammastrahlung: Anhand von Modellrechnungen haben Physiker des Heidelberger MPI für Kernphysik eine neue Methode für eine effiziente und brillante Gammastrahlungsquelle vorgeschlagen. Ein gigantischer Gammastrahlungsblitz wird hier durch die Wechselwirkung eines dichten ultra-relativistischen Elektronenstrahls mit einem dünnen leitenden Festkörper erzeugt. Die reichliche Produktion energetischer Gammastrahlen beruht auf der Aufspaltung des Elektronenstrahls in einzelne Filamente, während dieser den Festkörper durchquert. Die erreichbare Energie und Intensität der Gammastrahlung eröffnet neue und fundamentale Experimente in der Kernphysik.
Die typische Wellenlänge des Lichtes, die mit einem Objekt des Mikrokosmos wechselwirkt, ist umso kürzer, je kleiner dieses Objekt ist. Für Atome reicht dies...
Novel highly efficient and brilliant gamma-ray source: Based on model calculations, physicists of the Max PIanck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg propose a novel method for an efficient high-brilliance gamma-ray source. A giant collimated gamma-ray pulse is generated from the interaction of a dense ultra-relativistic electron beam with a thin solid conductor. Energetic gamma-rays are copiously produced as the electron beam splits into filaments while propagating across the conductor. The resulting gamma-ray energy and flux enable novel experiments in nuclear and fundamental physics.
The typical wavelength of light interacting with an object of the microcosm scales with the size of this object. For atoms, this ranges from visible light to...
Physiker der Universität Regensburg (Deutschland), der Kanazawa University (Japan) und der Linnaeus University in Kalmar (Schweden) haben den Einfluss eines...
Aus Stammzellen aus dem Knochenmark von Erwachsenen lassen sich stabile Gelenkknorpel herstellen. Diese Zellen können so gesteuert werden, dass sie molekulare Prozesse der embryonalen Entwicklung des Knorpelgewebes durchlaufen, wie Forschende des Departements Biomedizin von Universität und Universitätsspital Basel im Fachmagazin PNAS berichten.
Bestimmte mesenchymale Stamm-/Stromazellen aus dem Knochenmark von Erwachsenen gelten als äusserst viel versprechend für die Regeneration von Skelettgewebe....
Stable joint cartilage can be produced from adult stem cells originating from bone marrow. This is made possible by inducing specific molecular processes occurring during embryonic cartilage formation, as researchers from the University and University Hospital of Basel report in the scientific journal PNAS.
Certain mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from the bone marrow of adults are considered extremely promising for skeletal tissue regeneration. These adult stem...
Anzeige
Anzeige
124. Internistenkongress in Mannheim: Internisten rücken Altersmedizin in den Fokus
19.04.2018 | Veranstaltungen
DFG unterstützt Kongresse und Tagungen - Juni 2018
17.04.2018 | Veranstaltungen
Stralsunder IT-Sicherheitskonferenz im Mai zum 7. Mal an der Hochschule Stralsund
12.04.2018 | Veranstaltungen
124. Internistenkongress in Mannheim: Internisten rücken Altersmedizin in den Fokus
19.04.2018 | Veranstaltungsnachrichten
Aus dem Labor auf die Schiene: Forscher des HI-ERN planen Wasserstoffzüge mit LOHC-Technologie
19.04.2018 | Verkehr Logistik
Neuer Wirkmechanismus von Tumortherapeutikum entdeckt
19.04.2018 | Biowissenschaften Chemie