title: Heritability of multivariate factors of the metabolic syndrome in nondiabetic Japanese americans.
abstract: A rapidly growing body of evidence demonstrates important associations between the metabolic syndrome, characterized by a cluster of risk factors or phenotypes that include dyslipidemia, central obesity, hypertension, and hyperinsulinemia, and both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the metabolic syndrome in a sample of 432 individuals from 68 Japanese-American families, using factor analysis of quantitative phenotypes, and to estimate the heritability of these independent factors. Using nine characteristic phenotypes that included LDL particle size and C-reactive protein (CRP), factor analysis identified three multivariate factors interpreted as lipids, body fat/insulin/glucose/CRP, and blood pressure, explaining 65% of the variance. Heritability analysis revealed significant genetic effects on all of the factors: lipids (h(2) = 0.52, P < 0.001), body fat/insulin/glucose/CRP (h(2) = 0.27, P = 0.016), and blood pressure (h(2) = 0.25, P = 0.026). This analysis shows that independent, multivariate factors of the metabolic syndrome are heritable, demonstrating genetic influences on the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of the syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Institute for Public Health Genetics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-7236, USA. maustin@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Marguerite J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McNeely
authors.forename: Wayne L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: Donna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Leonetti
authors.forename: Philippa J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Talmud
authors.forename: Steve E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Humphries
authors.forename: Wilfred Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States