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Neuregulin-1 genotype moderates the association between job strain and early atherosclerosis in young men

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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background: Although it is known that a given level of strain does not induce a corresponding CHD risk in all individuals, factors that predict groups at risk have remained unclear. Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) has various roles in the development and function of the heart and autonomic nervous system.Purpose: We examined whether polymorphic variation in NRG-1 moderates the association between job strain and early atherosclerosis.Methods: The participants (Mage=32.5) were 349 women and 357 men derived from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. Job strain was defined as the joint effect of job demands and job control. Preclinical atherosclerosis was measured using carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) ultrasound.Results: NRG-1 single nucleotide polymorphism SNP8NRG221533 (T to C) was found to moderate the association between job strain and IMT in men (p=.04). Job strain was significantly associated with increased IMT among men with T/T genotype but not among the others. A direct association between NRG-1 and IMT was found in women.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the effect of job strain on early ather osclerosis is dependent on NRG-1 genotype in men. Gene×Environment Interaction approach seems to offer important additional information in stress research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland

    Mirka Hintsanen Ph.D., Marko Elovainio Ph.D., Sampsa Puttonen Ph.D., Mika Kivimäki Ph.D. & Liisa Keltikang as-Järvinen Ph.D.

  2. National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Finland

    Marko Elovainio Ph.D.

  3. International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK

    Mika Kivimäki Ph.D.

  4. Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Turku, Finland

    Olli T. Raitakari M.D., Ph.D.

  5. Laboratory of Ather osclerosis Genetics, Department of Clinical Chemistry, the Medical School University of Tampere and Centre for Laboratory Medicine, Tampere University Hospital, Finland

    Terho Lehtimäki M.D., Ph.D. & Riika Rontu Ph.D.

  6. Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine University of Turku, Finland

    Markus Juonala M.D., Ph.D.

  7. Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, Finland

    Mika Kähönen M.D., Ph.D.

  8. Department of Medicine, University of Turku, Finland

    Jorma Viikari M.D., Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Mirka Hintsanen Ph.D.
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  2. Marko Elovainio Ph.D.
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  3. Sampsa Puttonen Ph.D.
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  5. Olli T. Raitakari M.D., Ph.D.
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  6. Terho Lehtimäki M.D., Ph.D.
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  7. Riika Rontu Ph.D.
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  8. Markus Juonala M.D., Ph.D.
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  9. Mika Kähönen M.D., Ph.D.
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  10. Jorma Viikari M.D., Ph.D.
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  11. Liisa Keltikang as-Järvinen Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liisa Keltikang as-Järvinen Ph.D..

Additional information

This study was supported by Academy of Finland (Grants 111056, 209514, and 209518 for L.K.-J., 104891 and 105195 for M.K., 53392 and 15486 for O.T.R), the Emil Aaltonen Foundation (L.K.-J. and T.L.), the Psykonet Graduate School of Psychology (M.H.), and The Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research (O.T.R).

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Hintsanen, M., Elovainio, M., Puttonen, S. et al. Neuregulin-1 genotype moderates the association between job strain and early atherosclerosis in young men. ann. behav. med. 33, 148–155 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02879896

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