PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsGene clue to high cholesterol

BioNews

Gene clue to high cholesterol

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 441

Author

Ailsa Stevens

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

By Ailsa Taylor: A team of British researchers have identified a common genetic variation that can increase the risk of high cholesterol. The study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, may help to explain why the same gene has previously been linked with increased chance of heart disease...

A team of British researchers have identified a common genetic variation that can increase the risk of high cholesterol. The study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, may help to explain why the same gene has previously been linked with increased chance of heart disease, the UK's biggest killer.


'People knew this genetic marker was associated with a higher risk of heart disease, and the new findings show why -- it is associated with high cholesterol,' Professor Patricia Munroe, study leader and geneticist at the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, told Reuters.


Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) - a condition which kills 1 in 4 men and 1 in 6 women in the UK each year - is caused by a build-up of plaque in the arteries leading to restricted blood flow and high blood pressure. One of the main contributors to this plaque forming is Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), a type of cholesterol which accumulates in the blood as the result of a diet high in saturated fats.  People with high cholesterol can reduce their risk of heart disease by taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, reducing the amount of saturated fat in their diet, and by eating more high-fibre foods and oily fish.


The researchers performed a bank of 25 tests commonly used to assess heart disease risk - including cholesterol, sodium and glucose, or blood sugar, levels - on blood and urine samples from 2,000 men and women with high blood pressure. They then scanned the entire genomes of the group to see which gene variations were linked to having a high risk of heart disease, leading them to discover a gene change within a region on chromosome 1. The researchers then scaled up the study, looking for the same gene change in a further 3,000 people with high blood pressure, and found that the same gene change was associated with high cholesterol in this group.


Professor Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation believes the findings could help to reduce the number of deaths from heart disease, a condition which each year kills an estimated 233,000 people in the UK, and 16.7 million people world-wide. "This finding has the potential to lead to the development of new drugs to help lower cholesterol levels which in turn could help thousands of heart patients across the UK," he told the BBC.

Related Articles

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
12 October 2012 • 2 minutes read

Genes linked to cholesterol levels identified

by Maria Sheppard

Twenty-one genes linked with cholesterol and other fat levels in the blood have been identified by a consortium of over 180 researchers worldwide....

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
16 August 2010 • 1 minute read

Studies find gene variants linked to blood cholesterol levels

by Christopher Chatterton

Two new studies published in Nature have found...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Gene clues to cholesterol levels

by Dr Jess Buxton

A third of people have genetic variations that cut their risk of heart disease, perhaps by increasing the level of 'good' (HDL) cholesterol in their blood, say UK and Dutch scientists. A new study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, shows that individuals...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Gene clues to heart attack risk

by Ailsa Stevens

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week reported the discovery of six single letter gene changes - so-called genetic variants - linked to significantly increased risk of heart disease: the UK's biggest killer. The study - part of the multimillion pound Welcome Trust Case Control...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Genetic clue to heart disease

by Dr Jess Buxton

US and Canadian researchers have identified a common genetic variation that can increase the risk of heart disease by up to 40 per cent. The study, published early online in the journal Science, suggests that two genes involved in controlling cell growth, aging and death could...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Children of long-lived parents have a lower risk of heart disease

by Dr Laura Bell

Recent research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that middle aged people who have parents of which at least one lives to be 85 or more, have a lower risk of heart disease. The research used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), which...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Monkey cholesterol levels cut by gene silencing

by BioNews

US, Canadian and German researchers have used a novel gene therapy approach to reduce blood cholesterol levels in monkeys by more than 60 per cent. The research, published in the journal Nature, uses a technique called RNA interference (RNAi). The scientists - based at biotech firms Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Protiva BioTherapeutics...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Genes control cholesterol response

by BioNews

A study of identical twins in the US suggests why some people can eat all the fatty foods they want without increasing their blood cholesterol levels, while others have to watch their diets like a hawk. The researchers found that people's genes play a more important role than lifestyle in...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« UK IVF success rates and league tables announced

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
13 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Drop in diversity of blood stem cells leads to old-age health issues

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Shorter IVF protocol reduces risk of OHSS

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

USA scrambles to understand implications of Roe v Wade on fertility industry

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Genetic and epigenetic causes of IVF embryo arrest discovered

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Dutch donor-conceived people seek answers

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Genetic variant increases Alzheimer's risk, especially in women

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856