Heritability of carotid artery distensibility in Hispanics: the Northern Manhattan Family Study.
OBJECTIVE
Reduced arterial distensibility has been introduced as a novel risk factor for atherosclerosis. The importance of the genetic contribution to variation in distensibility is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to estimate heritability of carotid distensibility.


METHODS
The ongoing Northern Manhattan Family Study recruits high-risk Caribbean Hispanic families to study genetic effects on stroke/cardiovascular risk factors. The distensibility metrics (strain, stiffness, distensibility, and elastic modulus) were measured from the right common carotid artery, and the heritability for each was estimated. Variance component methods were used to estimate age- and sex-adjusted heritability. Correlations were calculated to evaluate the relationship between distensibility phenotypes and intimamedia thickness (IMT) at each carotid segment.


RESULTS
The current data included 88 probands and 605 relatives from 88 families. Age- and sex-adjusted heritability was 25% for strain, 17% for distensibility, 20% for stiffness, and 20% for elastic modulus. Without adjustment for covariates, strong correlations were found between distensibility metrics and IMT: the absolute values of correlation coefficients were between 0.2 and 0.5, and all P values were <0.001. However, the correlation coefficients were reduced substantially after adjusting for age and sex.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggested that genetic factors explained a moderate proportion of the variability of carotid distensibility. The correlations between distensibility and IMT were mainly attributable to age and sex effects. The regulation of carotid distensibility and IMT may reflect different underlying genetic and environmental mechanisms.
Juo
Suh-Hang Hank
SH
Genome Center, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. shj34@columbia.edu
Rundek
Tanja
T
Lin
Hsiu-Fen
HF
Cheng
Rong
R
Lan
Min-Yu
MY
Huang
Jinaping Sam
JS
Boden-Albala
Bernadette
B
Sacco
Ralph L
RL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000473:pathology; D004777:Environment; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009518:New York; D010641:Phenotype; D012307:Risk Factors; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000473:pathology