No association of 9p21 with arterial elasticity and retinal microvascular findings.

PubMed ID: 24075760

Author(s): Folsom AR, Pankow JS, Li X, Duprez DA, Jacobs DR Jr, Klein R, Klein B, Tang W, Wong TY, Cotch MF, Taylor KD, Rich SS, Hall JL, Post WS, Rotter JI. No association of 9p21 with arterial elasticity and retinal microvascular findings. Atherosclerosis. 2013 Oct;230(2):301-3. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2013.07.049. Epub 2013 Aug 2. PMID 24075760

Journal: Atherosclerosis, Volume 230, Issue 2, Oct 2013

OBJECTIVE How 9p21 variation affects risk of cardiovascular disease is unclear, so we assessed whether 9p21 variants are associated with arterial elasticity or retinal microvascular findings.

METHODS In the prospective Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) we assessed 378 SNPs in the 9p21 locus. Within four ethnic groups, we used an additive genetic model to relate the 9p21 SNPs to five vascular phenotypes: small and large elasticity derived from radial diastolic pulse contour analysis; Young’s elastic modulus from carotid artery ultrasound measurements; and the diameter of the central retinal arteries and veins.

RESULTS In neither ethnic-specific nor pooled data was there any statistically significant association between any of the 9p21 SNPs and any of the five vascular phenotypes.

CONCLUSION Our study does not support an association of 9p21 variation with arterial elasticity or retinal microvascular abnormalities.