doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000030060.75191.0E
(Circulation. 2002;106:e9005.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Circulation Newswriter
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The Genetic Factor
Genetic factors play a significant role in the quantity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) found by electron beam computed tomography, according to researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, the Windber Research Institute in Windber, Pa, and The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, in a report in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:304–308).
In the study, led by Patricia A. Peyser, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, researchers noted that although CAC quantity predicts future coronary heart problems, the measurable risk factors explain <50% of the variability in coronary artery calcification. To determine the factors that contribute to CAC, they quantified the contributions of known risk factors and genetic influences on the calcification quantity found in 698 asymptomatic adults.
They adjusted their calculations for age, sex, fasting glucose, systolic blood pressure, years of smoking (by pack), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and found that 41.8% of the residual variation in CAC quantity could be attributed to genetic factors. "Our findings suggest a substantial genetic component for subclinical coronary atherosclerosis variation as measured by CAC quantity," they concluded, "even after accounting for effects of genes acting through some measured atherosclerosis risk factors. Although the CAC quantity process has a complex pathogenesis that likely is influenced by the interaction of numerous environmental and genetic factors, the evidence for genetic effects suggests it should be possible to localize previously unknown genes that influence CAC on quantity."
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