NY [US]Jan 1 (ANI): A study has identified the most critical genes involved in coronary artery disease and heart attacks.
The study was published in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine by a team from the Victor Chang Heart Research Institute, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and other locations in Europe and the United States.
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The findings pave the way for a whole new field of personalized medicines for patients at risk of coronary heart disease, the world’s leading cause of death.
The executive director of the Victor Chang Institute of Cardiac Research, Professor Jason Kovacic, was the lead author of the paper and says the study made three important advances, all of which were of key importance in the fight against heart disease.
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“Firstly, we have now more precisely defined the precise genes that are likely to cause CHD. Secondly, we have identified exactly where in the body the main effect of those genes occurs – it could be in the arteries of the heart themselves. that directly cause blockages, or perhaps the effect is in the liver to increase cholesterol levels, or in the blood to change inflammation,” adds Professor Kovacic.
“The third great achievement was to rank those genes, 162 in total, in order of priority to cause coronary disease.
“Some of the major genes identified in this list have never really been studied in the context of heart attacks before. Finding these important new genes is really exciting but also a real challenge, since no one knows exactly how many of them cause coronary disease. heart disease.”
Six hundred patients who had coronary disease and another 150 without coronary disease were included in the study. All underwent open chest surgery for coronary artery bypass surgery or other medically indicated reasons. The team used Mount Sinai’s supercomputer, called “Minerva,” to crunch the numbers, analyze data and collect information from thousands of genes.
Professor Kovacic hopes the findings will invigorate research in the area and lead to a whole new field of critical work related to heart attacks.
Professor Kovacic says: “This knowledge will allow us to go after these really critical heart attack-causing genes, as we now know how deserving of immediate in-depth study to understand exactly how they cause coronary disease and whether they could be promising drug targets for the patients.
“Another important aspect of this study was that one of our previously suspected lead genes, PHACTR1, was validated as one of the two lead genes that cause CHD. We are actively studying PHACTR1 in my lab, as we know that it causes more than just CHD. , but also a whole range of other vascular diseases, such as migraine, fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous coronary artery dissection.
“However, despite the fact that it is potentially the most important gene that causes vascular disease, scientists around the world have little idea of how PHACTR1 works, and we are determined to solve it.”
Yet another benefit to patients may be improved genetic testing.
“The current genetic tests we have to detect people at risk of coronary heart disease test for hundreds, if not thousands of genes. At present, they are not particularly accurate, and mainly for this reason, they are not used routinely in a clinical setting.” says Professor Kovacic.
“This refined and prioritized gene list that we published in this study opens up many new possibilities in terms of more accurate genetic testing, as well as a better understanding of the causes of heart attacks and the development of targeted therapies for many of the new gene targets.” that we have found.
“As a cardiologist, that’s incredibly exciting and could eventually have a huge impact on the lives of my patients.
“We are especially grateful for the support of this ongoing research from NSW Health and the Bourne Foundation.” says Professor Kovacic. (AND ME)
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