title: Association between a gene variant near ataxia telangiectasia mutated and coronary artery disease in men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Type 2 diabetes is accompanied by increased mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD), but the mechanisms linking these conditions remain elusive. Hence, treatment of hyperglycaemia alone is not sufficient to avoid CAD in diabetes. Alternative views suggest that metabolic and vascular diseases share unifying cellular defects that could serve as targets for novel therapeutic strategies. Recently, a variant [single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); rs11212617] near the gene for ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) has been associated with glycaemic response to metformin.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined rs11212617 in 240 male patients who underwent elective coronary angiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the variant was not associated with glucose concentrations, the A allele was significantly associated with the presence of CAD (chi-square, p = 0.003), as well as with logarithmically transformed quantitative CAD indices [severe score (SS): 0.5 (0.4-0.6) vs 0.3 (0.2-0.5); extent score (ES): 2.63 (2.4-2.9) vs 1.94 (1.4-2.4), both p < 0.05, respectively]. Multivariate analysis revealed an independent association between the A allele with ES (β = 0.17, p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that ATM-dependent signalling might play a role in the development of atherosclerotic vascular disease, but larger studies are necessary to substantiate such a hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Center for Geriatric Medicine at Bezirksklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiekofer
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bobak
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kleber
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maerz
authors.forename: Gottfried
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rudofsky
authors.forename: Klaus A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dugi
authors.forename: Jochen G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D056426:Genetic Loci; D005858:Germany; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins
keywords: Vascular disease; co-morbidities; metabolic syndrome