Genetic variants linked to heart disease

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international team of researchers has associated six new genetic variants with the risk of heart disease.

The genome-wide study found 18 DNA variants associated with levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood -- six of which represent new DNA regions never before associated with the traits.

The researchers said their finding helps explain some of the variability in cholesterol and triglyceride levels that arises from genes. They said their study might help physicians predict a patient's genetic risk of heart disease and could spur new cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"By uncovering the genetic determinants of cholesterol levels and, in turn, heart disease risk, we may be able to identify high-risk patients who can benefit from early interventions, in addition to expanding our knowledge of cholesterol biology and opening doors to new treatments," said first author Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, director of preventive cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a genetics researcher in the Program in Medical and Population Genetics at the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The findings appear in the early online issue of the journal Nature Genetics.