Discovering a variety of gene variants that cause heart disease

A small scan of the genome size of 100,000 people found many gene variants that could increase the two types of blood fats that are thought to cause heart disease.

Illustration.(Source: Internet)

These findings were published in two studies in the August 4 issue of Nature. The researchers suggest that they open up many methods of making drugs that limit "bad" cholesterol and related diseases.

In the main study, a team of Massachusets General Hospital scientists scanned the DNA of more than 100,000 Europeans for genes involved in altering blood fat levels. The scale of the experiment allows the location of the genome to be ignored during previous scans.

The experiment also sheds light on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that gene variants cause health problems. Scientists view these results as a further step toward determining the relationship between three specific gene variants and fat substances in experiments on genetically modified mice.

They show that these results also relate to people of different racial backgrounds, including Africa, East Asia and South Asia.

95 gene variants, of which 59 were first detected, were responsible for a third increase in the levels of triglycerides and cholesterol regulated by genes. A type of cholesterol called LDL transports important fatty acids from the liver to other tissues, while triglycerides provide the main source of energy. However, when exceeded, they will lead to stroke, vascular disease and heart attacks.

Coronary heart disease is especially common in rich countries and is the leading cause of death worldwide. Smoking cigarettes, eating a lot of fat-rich foods, lack of exercise, alcohol abuse and other living habits can all increase these levels of harmful fats in the blood and coronary artery disease associated with them.

However, the genetic structure can play an important role and the new study provides the most accurate picture of which gene has this role.