Gene Variants Predict Heart Attack Risk

By Meghan Yost

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A combination of gene variants may help predict those at risk for heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death. These findings may help target individuals who need cholesterol-lowering medications and other early-intervention methods to combat heart problems.

Researchers set out to see if nine gene variants previously associated with cholesterol levels could predict those at risk of high or low cholesterol or heart disease. Using the nine variants, they created a scale ranging from zero to 18.

The scale was a success. “The higher the score, the higher your risk [of cardiovascular disease] … The lower the score, the lower your risk,” Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., lead author and Director of Preventive Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass., told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Kathiresan says the scale may help with preprescription genotyping -- treating people identified as being at risk of high cholesterol with cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins. “The idea is you can actually look at the genotypes of young patients in their 20’s and 30’s to identify what individuals are at risk of developing high cholesterol and heart disease,” Dr. Kathiresan said.
 
Experts estimate about half of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), “good” cholesterol levels, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), “bad” cholesterol levels, can be attributed to your genes rather than to diet and exercise.

Researchers say the scale’s accuracy will improve as they identify even more gene variants that affect cardiovascular health. “We estimate in another year or two there will probably be somewhere between 50 and 100 variants that will need to be integrated into the score,” Dr. Kathiresan said.

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SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;358:1240-1249