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GENETICS OF BLOOD CLOTTING FACTORS (pp 83, 101)

January 11, 2001

People with a family history of coronary heart disease are thought more likely to develop the disease themselves, because of a combination of genetic and shared environmental factors. Researchers use twin or adoption studies to establish whether genetic or environmental factors are more important in the development of a particular disease. There are complex protein molecules in the blood known as blood clotting or haemostatic factors which are thought to be increased in people who are likely to develop heart disease.

In this week’s Lancet, Marlies de Lange and colleagues from the Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK and the Academic Unit of Molecular Vascular Medicine, University of Leeds, UK , estimate and contrast genetic and environmental effects on haemostatic factors in 1002 female twin pairs. Use of a genetic model fitting technique showed that genetic factors contributed to about 41-75% of the variation in concentrations of haemostatic factors. Age had a significant effect on all factors, with concentrations increasing with age. The investigators conclude that “our results stress the importance of research into the genetic regulation of proteins involved in haemostasis and atherothrombotic disorders, including myocardial infarction and stroke.”

In an accompanying Commentary (p 83), Stephen Harrap and John Hopper note that “establishing the role of the genetics of haemostasis in acute coronary syndromes is still a long way off.” Peter Grant, one of the investigators, comments that “although this is the case, establishing to what extent vascular risk factors are inherited is the first step towards defining the role of genetics in coronary heart disease.”

Contact: Prof Peter J Grant, Academic Unit of Molecular Vascular Medicine, University of Leeds, LS1 3EX, UK. T: +44 (0) 1132 923472 F: +44 (0) 1132 423811 E: p.j.grant@leeds.ac.uk.

Stephen B Harrap. Department of Physiology and Centre for Genetic Epidemiology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. T: +613 9344 5836. F: +613 9349 4519. E: s.harrap@physiology.unimelb.edu.au

Lancet