Did you know that having gum disease (periodontitis) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD)? It’s been found that people with periodontal diseases are twice as likely to get coronary artery disease than those without any gum disease. Almost 92% of people who have CVD also have severe to moderate periodontitis, according to a 2004 study.

Some studies suggest that oral bacteria can enter the bloodstream and contribute to a thickening of the arterial walls or clot formation. Any blockage of the arteries can lead to heart attacks.

But a new study found that gum and heart disease may actually share the same variation of a gene! The researchers found that a locus on chromosome 9p21. is associated with both heart attack and gum disease. Both diseases share several risk factors including smoking, diabetes and obesity. So people with periodontal disease should take care to reduce their risk factors and keep the disease from progressing.

Image: flickr

Mutations in a gene called FIGLA cause premature ovarian failure in at least 1% of women who suffer from the disorder, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Shandong University in China in a report that appears online in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Premature ovarian failure, which means that the ovaries lose function before age 40, not only causes infertility but also bone and heart problems.  Ovarian reserves are important for women’s health.

FIGLA is one of four transcription factors found to control the differentiation of egg cells early in development. Transcription factors govern the activity of genes, turning them off and on and modulating the extent to which they are active.  The other genes involved include NOBOX, GDF9 and BMP 15.  Mutations in these can lead to premature ovarian failure as well.

“We hope to define majority of the genes that are part of the cellular pathways involved in ovarian failure,”said Dr. Aleksandar Rajkovic, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at BCM and senior author of the paper.

“Ideally in the future we will offer a test to women to look at all the genes involved in premature ovarian failure.”

He anticipates that a gene chip would be helpful in such diagnosis, which can help in counseling women or their children about the risk of early ovarian failure.

For up to date information on fertility and women’s health, visit my b5 friend Gabrielle at www.fertilitynotes.com

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com

Cardiomyocytes 

Stem cells have been used to create heart cells under lab conditions by researchers from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto.

By supplying the right growth factors at the right time, they encouraged the cells to grow into immature versions of three different types of cardiac cell.

The three cell types they created - cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells - are each important constituents of heart muscle.

Lead reseracher Dr Gordon Keller says

“The immediate impact of this is significant as we now have an unlimited supply of these cells to study how they develop, how they function and how they respond to different drugs.   In the future, these cells may also be very effective in developing new strategies for repairing damaged hearts, following a heart attack.”

To see these heart cells in action, click on the following link to a BBC video

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7361250.stm

Elaine Warburton   www.geneticsandhealth.com

Peripheral artery disease image showing ‘furring up’ of arteries 

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) can affect the arteries, the veins or the lymph vessels. The most common and important type of PVD is peripheral artery disease, which affects about 8 million Americans.  It becomes more common as a person gets older, and by age 65, about 12 to 20 % of the population has it. Diagnosis is critical, as people with peripheral artery disease have a four to five times higher risk of heart attack or stroke. 

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) results from fatty deposits (plaque) that build up in the arteries outside the heart (peripheral arteries); mainly the arteries supplying the legs and feet. This buildup narrows or blocks a person’s arteries and reduces the amount of blood and oxygen delivered to their leg muscles and feet. The iliac, femoral, popliteal and tibial arteries are commonly affected.  the main symptoms are leg pain that won’t go away when exercising;  foot or toe wounds that won’t heal quickly, lower temperature in the affected leg and at worst gangrene.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center, funded by NIH took two strains of mice with surgically-induced blocked blood flow that mimicked human response to PAD. One strain recovered well, showing restored blood flow and little tissue death; the other had greater tissue loss and poor recovery of normal blood flow. On further investigation, the scientists isolated a small area on chromosome 7 which appeared to give protection from PAD.

Dr. Brian Annex, professor of medicine and director of vascular medicine at Duke, says the study stemmed directly from his clinical experience. “Over and over, I’d see two patients show up at the same time. They would be the same sex, same age, have identical risk factors and have similar blockages in their arteries. One of them would experience very slow progression of the disease, while the other would face limb loss or death within six months. I just knew there just had to be a genetic basis for it.”

“Essentially, we now have a field of about 20 genes that we think may be involved in shaping the way peripheral artery disease develops,” says Annex. “At this point, we are not certain which ones are playing an active role, however. Still, we feel strongly that our discovery opens a new wave of investigation that may one day yield novel prevention strategies or treatments.”

Elaine Warburton www.geneticsandhealth.com

 (Courtesy Daniel P Urban DDS) 

More than 12,000 people were interviewed in their homes and questioned about snoring.

It is estimated that about 40% of adult males and 24% of adult females are habitual snorers.  For several years now, scientists have been aware of a relationship between snoring and cardiovascular disease.  However a team of Hungarian scientists interviewed 12,000 patients to assess any correlation.

The research discovered that compared to the rest of the population, loud snorers had a 34% increased risk of having a heart attack, and a 67% greater chance of suffering a stroke.

The researchers say that loud snoring with breathing pauses could be used to help identify people at risk from these diseases.

The data also highlighted the fact that people who snore quietly had no increase in their risk of cardiovascular illness.

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com

Our early human ancestors originated from a hot, humid climate where natural selection focused on dispersing heat.  As humans migrated to colder climates there would have been evolutionary pressure to adapt to their new settings by boosting the processes that produce and retain heat.

Genes involved in energy metabolism are therefore likely to be central to heat and cold tolerance. 

Researchers from the Dept of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, USA tested this theory by genotyping 873 tag SNPs in these ‘cold tolerance’ genes in 54 worldwide populations and found a correlation with climatic variations.

Among the results were strongest signals from several SNPs, that had previously been associated with body evolution directly related to cold tolerance.

One, a leptin receptor,  LEPR R109K, which is integral in appetite regulation and energy balance, was the source of one of the strongest signals of evolutionary selection. One version of this gene is common in locations with colder winters. This allele is additionally correlated with the increased capability to absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, which happens when the body produces heat. The same genetic variation has also been linked to a lower BMI, a smaller amount of abdominal fat, and a lower blood pressure. This specific leptin receptor, therefore, is protective against metabolic syndrome.

However, not all of the genes related to tolerance of colder climates protects against the metabolic syndrome. For example, an increased blood glucose level might protect the body from cold weather by making energy more readily available for production of heat. However, this also raises the risk of type 2 diabetes. FABP2 A54T was a gene that was more prevalent in populations with lower temperatures actually increases BMA, promotes storage of fat in the body and increases levels of cholesterol. While this protects the body against the cold, it increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and thus metabolic syndrome.

Variation in climate may be correlated with other aspects of environmental variation. Nevertheless, the results are consistent with the idea that climate has been an important selective pressure acting on candidate genes for common metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Thousands of years later we live in an era that combines widespread central heating with an overabundant food supply, so those genetic alterations which protected us from cold have taken on a different sort of significance. They alter our susceptibility to a whole new set of diseases, such as obesity, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes.

For further information, please click on:

http://genetics.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0040032&ct=1

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com

Pork containing omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce the risk of heart disease, could be available in the future. Researchers at Harvard University are also working on cows that make omega-3’s in their milk and chickens that have the fatty acids in their eggs.

Sounds yummy? Learn more at A Hearty Life.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is the main culprit in causing clogged arteries and atherosclerosis. About half of the variation in LDL cholesterol in the blood is due to genetics. Thus far, eight different genes have been identified with the PCSK9 gene having three forms that are associated with lower plasma LDL levels.

• Two PCSK9 gene variations were more common in blacks and reduced LDL cholesterol levels by an average of 28 percent. This translated to a 88 percent decrease in coronary heart disease.
• One PCSK9 gene variation was more common in whites and reduced the level of LDL by about 15 percent. This translated to a 50 percent decrease in coronary heart disease.

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can also be used to achieve the same reduction in LDL but the effect would not be felt over a lifetime. Statin therapy does, however, increase the quantity of PCSK9 produced by cells, which results in the clearing of LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream.

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