Heritability of left ventricular mass in Japanese families living in Hawaii: the SAPPHIRe Study

Abstract

Assuming the absence of shared familial environmental effects, close to half of the unexplained variance of LV mass in Japanese subjects living in Hawaii is genetic in nature. This estimate was observed in two independent samples. Therefore, the pursuit of novel genetic determinants of LV mass through either whole genome or candidate gene association studies of this population may be worthwhile. Such studies are certainly feasible.

Genetic Influence on Left Ventricular Structure and Function: A Korean Twin and Family Study

“…The heritability of LV mass was estimated to be 0.43 for Japanese hypertensive families and 0.61 for a population-based sample of families living in Hawaii (Assimes et al, 2007), whereas it was only 0.15 for Taiwanese families (Chien et al, 2006). In the present study of Korean twins and families, the magnitude of heritability of LV mass (0.44) was between that of Japanese families living in Hawaii (Assimes et al, 2007) and that of the Taiwanese family study (Chien et al, 2006). Given the data for LV mass heritability in Asians, including data from our study, the heritability of LV mass for the Asian population seems to be in between African-American and Caucasian descendants.…”

“…LV mass varies markedly between individuals, and several factors, including age, ethnicity, sex, body size, blood pressure, and valvular heart disease are associated with LV mass (Devereux et al, 1997;Gardin et al, 1995;Levy et al, 1988;Lorber et al, 2003), explaining 50-60% of the variance of LV mass (Devereux et al, 1997;Jones et al, 1997). On the other hand, twin and family studies, including two Asian studies, have reported significant heritability in LV mass (Assimes et al, 2007;Busjahn et al, 2009;Chien et al, 2006), which suggests that genetic factors are involved in the interindividual variation of LV structure. However, the reported heritability of LV mass varied markedly, with a wide range of heritability (15-84%) and it is not clear whether the genetic influence on LV structure is greater than the environmental influence.…”

Association of echocardiographic left ventricular structure with the ACE D/I polymorphism: a meta-analysis

“…Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Studies in twins 1,2 and populations [3][4][5][6] showed that left ventricular mass (LVM) is under genetic control. Heritability estimates ranged from 30% to 70%.…”

Die Herzinsuffizienz als komplexe genetische Erkrankung

“…B. Intima-Media-Dicke der A. carotis oder koronare Kalzifikation), die eine familiäre Häufung zeigen und mit dem Risiko der KHK korrelieren [14]. Neben den subklinischen Phänotypen der Arteriosklerose konnte auch für die linksventrikuläre Hypertrophie in verschiedenen Studien eine familiäre Häufung gezeigt werden [1,5,8]. So findet sich bei Geschwistern von Individuen mit linksventrikulärer Hypertrophie nach Adjustierung für Blutdruck, Body Mass Index und Alter ein 1,4-bis 1,7-fach erhöhtes Risiko [25].…”

“…Abb 1. 8 Familiäre Häufung der Herzinsuffizienz (nach [11]) Ursprung deutlich früher in der Evolution.…”