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Heritability of carotid artery structure and function: the Strong Heart Family Study
Kari E North1, Jean W MacCluer, Richard B Devereux
1Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Insights
Genetic factors moderately influence carotid artery structure and function. This study identified significant heritability for various measures, suggesting a genetic basis for vascular traits in American Indians.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Cardiovascular Science
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Carotid artery structure and function offer insights into vascular disease beyond traditional risk factors.
- The genetic underpinnings of these vascular traits remain largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic and environmental influences on carotid artery structure and function.
- Examined these contributions in three large American Indian family groups.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed data from approximately 950 individuals across 32 extended families.
- Employed a variance component approach with Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines (SOLAR).
- Estimated heritability (h2) for multiple carotid artery phenotypes after adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- Significant heritability was detected for common carotid artery diastolic diameter (h2<0.44).
- Intimal-medial wall thickness (h2<0.21), vascular mass (h2<0.27), arterial stiffness (h2<0.23), and augmentation index (h2<0.18) also showed significant heritability.
- Covariates included sex, age, diabetes, smoking, cholesterol, body surface area, and hypertension.
Conclusions:
- Additive genetic effects account for a moderate portion of the variability in carotid artery structure and function.
- Highlights the role of genetics in determining individual differences in vascular phenotypes.
Objective:
Alterations in carotid artery structure and function may represent phenotypic measures of vascular disease that contain information beyond that which can be inferred from conventional cardiovascular disease risk assessment. However, apart from their associations with cardiovascular disease risk factors and outcome, the genetic basis of variations in carotid artery structure and function is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the genetic and environmental contributions to carotid artery structure and function in 3 large groups of American Indians.
Methods And Results:
Approximately 950 men and women, aged > or =18 years, in 32 extended families were examined between 1997 and 1999. By use of a variance component approach and the program Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines, heritabilities for carotid artery structure and function phenotypes were estimated. After accounting for the effects of covariates (sex, age, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, smoking, cholesterol, body surface area, and hypertension), we detected significant heritabilities (given as h2 values) for common carotid artery diastolic diameter (h2<0.44), intimal-medial wall thickness (h2<0.21), vascular mass (h2<0.27), arterial stiffness (h2<0.23), and the augmentation index (h2<0.18).
Conclusions:
These results suggest that the additive effects of genes explain a moderate proportion of the variability of carotid artery structure and function.