Researchers have known for many years that early-onset coronary artery disease (CAD) was an inherited condition, but until know they knew very little about the genes responsible for this devastating condition.

Svati Shah and Elizabeth Hauser and colleagues set out to find the genes that increase the risk of early-onset CAD. Previous research had highlighted a region on chromosome 7 and therefore they focused on this region. Results identified six variants of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene, which encodes for the NPY protein, a plentiful and highly important protein that, among other functions, is involved in the control of appetite and feeding behavior.

Results showed that people who carried one of two copies of the gene variants were at increased risk of developing coronary disease before the age of 37. "These young patients are a vulnerable population on whom CAD has a significant long-term impact, but they are particularly hard to identify and therefore to initiate preventive therapies for," said Dr Shah. "These and other genetic findings may help us in the future to identify these patients prior to development of CAD or their first heart attack."

The researchers suspected that changes in NPY levels may promote atherosclerosis. Subsequent studies on mice confirmed their suspicions.  

Shah SH, Freedman NJ, Zhang L, Crosslin DR, Stone DH, et al. Neuropeptide Y Gene Polymorphisms Confer Risk of Early-Onset Atherosclerosis. PLoS Genet. 2009;5(1):e1000318. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000318

News release: Genetic variation may lead to early cardiovascular disease. Public Library of Science. January 2nd 2008.