London, June 14 (IANS) In an attempt to identify new genes and molecules responsible for coronary artery disease (CAD), researchers will use state-of-the-art genetic techniques to examine DNA from over 20,000 heart patients.
CAD is a condition in which plaque (a compound of fat, cholesterol and other substances found in the blood) builds up inside the coronary arteries.
The study, which may help develop new diagnostic and treatment strategies, is being undertaken by postgraduate researcher Paraskevi Christofidou of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester (UL).
Christofidou said: ‘Coronary Artery Disease – a disease causing narrowing of arteries in the heart – remains a major cause of death worldwide. Shockingly, in the USA on average one person dies of this disease every 34 seconds.’
In the UK, it causes over 100,000 deaths a year, approximately one in five deaths in men and one in six deaths in women.
‘Various risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and increased levels of cholesterol play a significant role in the progression of CAD,’ Christofidou said.
‘There is also evidence that familial predisposition is a strong risk factor. Risk of CAD increases by almost 50 percent if one of your relatives has a history of heart disease,’ added Christofidou.
Christofidou said a part of this genetic susceptibility to CAD is transmitted from one generation to another as a collection of small changes in DNA sequence called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
She added: ‘The recent genetic revolution offers tracking of SNPs in human DNA on an unprecedented scale. With the use of new genetic tools called ‘chips’ it is possible to track and characterise precisely up to 1 million SNPs in a subject.’
‘We anticipate that some of these variants occur more frequently in patients with CAD compared to healthy subjects and are responsible for genetic predisposition to CAD. It is likely that some of these variants are rare so large cohorts of subjects are needed to identify sufficient numbers for analysis,’ Christofidou said.
The project will conduct analysis of human DNA from more than 20,000 patients with CAD and 60,000 healthy controls, said a UL release.
Christofidou will present her research at the Festival of Postgraduate Research June 24 at UL.
