title: Heritability of cardiovascular risk factors in a Chinese population--Taichung Community Health Study and Family Cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies reporting on estimates of heritability of cardiovascular risk factors in Chinese are limited. This study aims to estimate the heritability of cardiovascular risk factors in relatives of residents who participated in the Taichung Community Health Study (TCHS) and Family Cohort (TCHS-FC) while controlling as many potential confounders as possible.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1564 study subjects from 494 families with members aged 12-91 years were enrolled from a random sample of participants of TCHS and their family members (TCHS-FC) from 2009 to 2012. Anthropometric measurement, body composition, blood pressure, plasma lipids, fasting glucose, insulin, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and the ankle-brachial index (ABI), as well as a questionnaire interview, were obtained from each participant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cardiovascular risk factors with estimates of heritability greater than 30% after multivariate adjustment were triglyceride (h(2) = 0.41), HDL-C (h(2) = 0.49), LDL-C (h(2) = 0.47), total cholesterol (h(2) = 0.46), hip circumference (h(2) = 0.44), weight (h(2) = 0.42), insulin (h(2) = 0.39), hs-CRP (h(2) = 0.38), BMI (h(2) = 0.38), and percent body fat mass (h(2) = 0.35). Correlation coefficients for significant sibling varied from 0.10 for weight to 0.47 for LDL-C whereas those for significant parent-offspring varied from 0.09 for fasting plasma glucose to 0.43 for baPWV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated significant heritability and familial aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors in a random sample of ethnic Chinese population.
authors: Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Cheng-Chieh
authors: CC
authors: Lin
authors: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors: Patricia A
authors: PA
authors: Peyser
authors: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Sharon L R
authors: SL
authors: Kardia
authors: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Chia-Ing
authors: CI
authors: Li
authors: Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Chiu-Shong
authors: CS
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors: Julia S
authors: JS
authors: Chu
authors: Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors: Wen-Yuan
authors: WY
authors: Lin
authors: Graduate Institute of Biostatistics, College of Management, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Healthcare Administration, College of Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: tcli@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
authors: Tsai-Chung
authors: TC
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D044466:Asian People; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005192:Family Health / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; Cardiovascular risk factors; Family study; Heritability; Highly sensitive C-reactive protein