Gene network reveals link between fats and heart disease signs

	Tweet

A gene network behind hardening of the arteries and coronary heart disease has been identified by a team of scientists from Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Their findings expose potential targets for the treatment of heart disease.

Dr Michael Inouye, a postdoctoral fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, began the study at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK and completed it earlier this year at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Researchers from Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare, the University of Helsinki and Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands were also involved in the study.

Concentrations of cholesterols circulating in the blood are an important predictor of coronary artery disease, the most common form of heart disease. The main pathology of coronary artery disease is so-called ‘hardening of the arteries’, or Atherosclerosis, a cycle where cholesterol builds up on the walls of arteries and the body’s resultant immune response leads to more build up.

To investigate how cholesterols in the blood stream activate circulating immune cells, the researchers looked at samples from more than 500 volunteers to construct biological networks of genes that move in concert.

The volunteers were participants in Finland’s Dietary, Lifestyle and Genetic determinants of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome (DILGOM) study.

Dr Inouye said the study identified a network of genes whose activity was tied to the level of cholesterols in the blood. “For all intents and purposes these genes look like an inflammatory network and appear reactive to high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides and apolipoprotein B; all of which are predictors of downstream cardiovascular disease,” he said.

The research is published in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Genetics. The full text of the scientific paper can be read here.

“We are just beginning to understand biological networks and how they relate to disease,” Dr Inouye said. “This is absolutely imperative as, while knowing the changes in DNA that predict disease is important, we can now do better. Knowing how diseases impact biological networks allows researchers to identify multiple levels of potential intervention.”

Dr Inouye said the research was done in memory of his PhD mentor Professor Leena Peltonen, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who died in March from bone cancer.

The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Finnish Academy. It would not have been possible without the volunteers who showed extraordinary generosity toward biomedical research, Dr Inouye said.

For further information

Penny Fannin
Strategic Communications Manager
Ph: +61 3 9345 2345
Mob: 0417 125 700
Email:

RELATED STORIES:
Heart patch pulses like the real thing   Patients with moderate to severe periodontitis need evaluation for heart disease risk   Body’s natural marijuana-like chemicals make fatty foods hard to resist   IVF Babies May Face Later Cardiac Risks   Eating More Red Meat May Mean Quicker Death   Low vitamin D tied to heart, stroke deaths   Study suggests how COX drugs cause heart disease   Better care means better blood pressure control   Fitness sausages   When Overeating, Calories, Not Protein, Contribute to Increase in Body Fat   Heart procedure results have improved for elderly   Ulcer bug strongly linked to irregular heartbeat

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

The major kinds of fats in the foods we eat are saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fatty acids. Saturated fats and trans fats raise blood cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol also raises blood cholesterol. A high level of cholesterol in the blood is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack, and also increases the risk of stroke.

posted by Signs of heart disease on 10/14/2010 at 8:12 am -08:00