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Genetic Region Linked to Bad Cholesterol
February 8, 2024
Scientists uncovered a new region in the genome that is responsible for the body's ability to regulate bad cholesterol. The researchers, led by Dr. Manjinder Sandhu, from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit and the Department of Public Health & Primary Care, found three genetic variations in the same region on chromosome 1, which were all linked to levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood.
Teams from the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge University, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and GlaxoSmithKline studied data from large numbers of people across Europe. They looked at genome-wide scans of more than eleven thousand people to find out which genes affect LDL-cholesterol levels.
Their findings, published in the Lancet, provide insight into why some individuals have higher levels of the cholesterol which has been linked to heart attack and stroke.
"While therapies exist to lower cholesterol levels in people whose levels are too high, much is still unknown about the mechanisms that underlie cholesterol regulation and why some people seem to produce more than others. Performing a genome-wide study, looking for areas which are associated with cholesterol levels helps us to find out why some people produce more than others,"said Dr. Sandhu.
Source: University of Cambridge
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