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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2002;22:1698.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Atherosclerosis

Heritability of Carotid Artery Structure and Function

The Strong Heart Family Study

Kari E. North; Jean W. MacCluer; Richard B. Devereux; Barbara V. Howard; Thomas K. Welty; Lyle G. Best; Elisa T. Lee; Richard R. Fabsitz; Mary J. Roman

From the Department of Epidemiology (K.E.N.), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the Department of Genetics (J.W.M.), Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Tex; the Division of Cardiology (R.B.D., M.J.R.), Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY; MedStar Research Institute (B.V.H.), Washington, DC; Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board (T.K.W.), Rapid City, SD; Missouri Breaks Industries Research, Inc (L.G.B.), Timber Lake, SD; Center for American Indian Health Research (E.T.L.), School of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City; and the Epidemiology and Biometry Program (R.R.F.), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Md.

Correspondence to Dr Mary J. Roman, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 525 East 68th St, New York, NY 10021. E-mail mroman{at}med.cornell.edu

Abstract

Objective— Alterations in carotid artery structure and function may represent phenotypic measures of vascular disease that contain information beyond that which can be inferred from conventional cardiovascular disease risk assessment. However, apart from their associations with cardiovascular disease risk factors and outcome, the genetic basis of variations in carotid artery structure and function is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the genetic and environmental contributions to carotid artery structure and function in 3 large groups of American Indians.

Methods and Results— Approximately 950 men and women, aged 18 years, in 32 extended families were examined between 1997 and 1999. By use of a variance component approach and the program Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines, heritabilities for carotid artery structure and function phenotypes were estimated. After accounting for the effects of covariates (sex, age, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, smoking, cholesterol, body surface area, and hypertension), we detected significant heritabilities (given as h² values) for common carotid artery diastolic diameter (h²<0.44), intimal-medial wall thickness (h²<0.21), vascular mass (h²<0.27), arterial stiffness (h²<0.23), and the augmentation index (h²<0.18).

Conclusions— These results suggest that the additive effects of genes explain a moderate proportion of the variability of carotid artery structure and function.

Key Words: carotid artery structure and function • heritability • American Indians • Strong Heart Family Study

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