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Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction - 2013

  • Cardiovascular Genomics (C O'Donnell, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Coronary artery disease is a complex disease influenced by modifiable risk factors as well as genetic susceptibility. The genetics of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction have long been enigmatic. Recent advances in molecular genetics and biology, bioinformatics, and statistics have allowed us to study the interaction of exogenous and endogenous factors. Recent genome-wide association studies and their meta-analyses have included thousands of patients and healthy individuals and provided the statistical power to identify genetic variants, each associated with a rather small increase in risk. Thus far, more than 45 risk loci have been identified. Nevertheless, the search for genetics-based improvements in therapy and prevention has just begun. Hitherto unrecognized mechanisms may provide promising drug targets and early interventional strategies. Furthermore, the sum of risk alleles may facilitate risk assessment as they provide complementary information to traditional risk scores.

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Conflict of Interest

Thorsten Kessler declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Jeanette Erdmann has received grant support from Cardiogenics and Atherogenomics.

Heribert Schunkert has received grant support from Cardiogenics and Atherogenomics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik für Herz- und Kreislauferkrankungen, Deutsches Herzzentrum München, Technische Universität München, Lazarettstraße 36, 80636, München, Germany

    Thorsten Kessler & Heribert Schunkert

  2. Institut für Integrative und Experimentelle Genomik, Universität zu Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23562, Lübeck, Germany

    Jeanette Erdmann

  3. Partner sites Hamburg, Kiel, Lübeck and München, DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Lübeck, Germany

    Jeanette Erdmann & Heribert Schunkert

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  1. Thorsten Kessler
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  2. Jeanette Erdmann
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  3. Heribert Schunkert
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Correspondence to Heribert Schunkert.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cardiovascular Genomics

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Kessler, T., Erdmann, J. & Schunkert, H. Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction - 2013. Curr Cardiol Rep 15, 368 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-013-0368-0

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