Skip Navigation



Cardiovascular Research Advance Access [Accepted Manuscript] published online on December 20, 2008
Cardiovascular Research, doi:10.1093/cvr/cvn353
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
81/4/637    most recent
cvn353v2
cvn353v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lacolley, P.
Right arrow Articles by Regnault, V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lacolley, P.
Right arrow Articles by Regnault, V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

GENETICS AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF ARTERIAL STIFFNESS

Patrick Lacolley1,2, Pascal Challande3, Mary Osborne-Pellegrin4,5 and Veronique Regnault1,2

1 INSERM, U961, Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France
2 Nancy Université, Nancy, France
3 UPMC Université Paris 06, Paris, France
4 INSERM, U698, Paris, France
5 Paris Diderot Université, Paris, France

Corresponding author and reprint requests: Dr Patrick Lacolley, Inserm U961, Faculté de Médecine, 9 avenue de la forêt de Haye, 54500 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. Tel 33 3 8368 3623, Fax 33 3 8368 3639; e-mail: patrick.lacolley{at}nancy.inserm.fr

Arterial stiffness is a cardiovascular risk factor that is independent of arterial pressure. Clinically, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the gold-standard parameter of arterial stiffness. Recent genetic studies have revealed specific genes that contribute to arterial stiffening. Here we review the recent findings on genome-wide linkage analyses and candidate gene polymorphism association studies. We also focus on the latest advances in the identification of gene variants affecting PWV using high density array SNP technology in a recent genome-wide association (GWA) study. Linkage and polymorphism studies revealed a first group of genes affecting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, elastic fibre structural components, metalloproteinases and the NO pathway. A second group of genes, identified by polymorphism association studies and possibly involved in the pathophysiology of arterial stiffness, includes β-adrenergic receptors, endothelin receptors and inflammatory molecules. The last group of genes, identified by GWA studies and unrelated to currently suspected mechanisms of arterial stiffness, may target transcriptional pathways controlling gene expression, differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells, apoptosis of endothelial cells or the immune response within the vascular wall.

KEYWORDS genetics; pulse wave velocity; arteries; elasticity

Time for primary review: 17 Days


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.