LDL Cholesterol Levels Associated With New Gene Locus

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Main Category: Cholesterol
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Biology / Biochemistry;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 12 Feb 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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A new gene locus has been discovered that may be associated with levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. This new finding may aid the development of new drugs to fight cardiovascular disease, according to an article published in the February 9 issue of The Lancet.

Higher LDL cholesterol concentrations have been linked to cardiovascular diseases, and in previous studies, a clinical benefit can be reaped by lowering concentrations of LDL cholesterol in the blood. This means that improving understanding of the biological mechanisms that control the metabolism and regulation of LDL cholesterol could provide valuable information for identification of new therapeutic directions.

Dr Manjinder Sandhu, Department of Public Health & Primary Care and MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, UK, and colleagues did performed an association of LDL cholesterol levels with genome-wide data from 11,685 participants in five separate studies.

The researchers found evidence that correlation existed between LDL-cholesterol levels and the chromosome region 1p13.3. Across all of the studies examined, this association maintained its magnitude and showed independent statistical association in each study. The authors conclude with optimism for the implications of this result: "These results potentially provide insight into the biological mechanisms that underlie the regulation of LDL cholesterol and might help in the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease."

Dr Ronald Krauss, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA, USA, contributed in an accompanying comment with more options for further investigation: "In addition to the identification of new treatment targets, the discovery of genetic polymorphisms that affect LDL and other markers of cardiovascular disease risk could provide a means to categorise specific phenotypes that might merit different treatments and to identify at-risk individuals."

LDL-cholesterol concentrations: a genome-wide association study
Manjinder S Sandhu, Dawn M Waterworth, Sally L Debenham, Eleanor Wheeler, Konstantinos Papadakis, Jing Hua Zhao, Kijoung Song, Xin Yuan, Toby Johnson, Sofie Ashford, Michael Inouye, Robert Luben, Matthew Sims, David Hadley, Wendy McArdle, Philip Barter, Y Antero Kesaniemi, Robert W Mahley, Ruth McPherson, Scott M Grundy, Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Sheila A Bingham, Kay-Tee Khaw, Ruth J F Loos, Gerard Waeber, Inês Barroso, David P Strachan, Panagiotis Deloukas, Peter Vollenweider, Nicholas J Wareham, Vincent Mooser
The Lancet, Vol 371, February 9, 2008: p483-494
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
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