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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

A Thrombotic Stroke Model Based On Transient Cerebral Hypoxia-ischemia
Published on: August 18, 2015
Genetic susceptibility to ischemic stroke
James F Meschia1, Bradford B Worrall, Stephen S Rich
1Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. meschia.james@mayo.edu
Insights
Genetic factors in ischemic stroke are complex. While single-gene disorders like sickle cell disease are important, common genetic variants have minor effects. Research is ongoing to understand stroke genetics and its clinical application.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Genetics
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Ischemic stroke has several associated single-gene disorders.
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have not identified major common genetic risk variants for ischemic stroke.
- Pharmacogenomic studies have identified genetic factors influencing response to stroke medications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review single-gene disorders associated with ischemic stroke.
- To summarize current research on genetic risk factors for ischemic stroke.
- To discuss the role of pharmacogenomics in stroke treatment.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of single-gene disorders and ischemic stroke.
- Summary of findings from candidate gene and genome-wide association studies.
- Discussion of pharmacogenomic data relevant to stroke.
Main Results:
- Several single-gene disorders present with ischemic stroke.
- No single common genetic variant has been found to significantly increase ischemic stroke risk.
- Ongoing large-scale studies aim to identify common variants with smaller effects.
- Genetic factors influencing response to warfarin, statins, and clopidogrel have been identified.
Conclusions:
- Awareness of single-gene disorders is crucial for clinicians treating stroke patients.
- Current understanding of common genetic variants offers limited major risk prediction.
- Integrating genetic knowledge into clinical practice for stroke remains a challenge.
- Pharmacogenomics offers potential for personalized stroke treatment.
Abstract:
Clinicians who treat patients with stroke need to be aware of several single-gene disorders that have ischemic stroke as a major feature, including sickle cell disease, Fabry disease, cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, and retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukodystrophy. The reported genome-wide association studies of ischemic stroke and several related phenotypes (for example, ischemic white matter disease) have shown that no single common genetic variant imparts major risk. Larger studies with samples numbering in the thousands are ongoing to identify common variants with smaller effects on risk. Pharmacogenomic studies have uncovered genetic determinants of response to warfarin, statins and clopidogrel. Despite increasing knowledge of stroke genetics, incorporating this new knowledge into clinical practice remains a challenge. The goals of this article are to review common single-gene disorders relevant to ischemic stroke, summarize the status of candidate gene and genome-wide studies aimed at discovering genetic stroke risk factors, and to briefly discuss pharmacogenomics related to stroke treatment.
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