Hereditary hemochromatosis and risk of ischemic heart disease: a prospective study and a case-control study.
BACKGROUND
We tested the hypothesis that the hereditary hemochromatosis genotypes C282Y/C282Y, C282Y/H63D, or C282Y/wild-type are risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and myocardial infarction (MI).


RESULTS
We performed a prospective study of 9178 individuals from the Danish general population followed up for 24 years, during which 1035 and 511 developed IHD and MI, respectively, and a case-control study of 2441 and 1113 IHD and MI cases versus 8080 controls. C282Y/C282Y, C282Y/H63D, and C282Y/wild-type versus wild-type/wild-type individuals were not associated with increased risk of IHD or MI in prospective studies, overall or stratified by gender. We had 90% power to detect a hazard ratio for IHD of 3.4 for C282Y/C282Y, 1.9 for C282Y/H63D, and 1.3 for C282Y/wild-type versus wild-type/wild-type. Furthermore, these genotypes were not associated with increased risk of IHD or MI in case-control studies, overall or stratified by gender. We had 90% power to detect an odds ratio for IHD of 3.6 for C282Y/C282Y, 1.8 for C282Y/H63D, and 1.3 for C282Y/wild-type versus wild-type/wild-type.


CONCLUSIONS
In these studies, hereditary hemochromatosis C282Y/C282Y, C282Y/H63D, and C282Y/wild-type genotypes were not associated with IHD or MI; however, the study lacked the power to exclude the possibility that C282Y/C282Y and C282Y/H63D individuals have a modestly increased risk of IHD or MI.
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark.
Christina
C
Ellervik
Anne
A
Tybjaerg-Hansen
Peer
P
Grande
Merete
M
Appleyard
Børge G
BG
Nordestgaard
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006432:Hemochromatosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk