Genetics of cardiovascular disease in minority populations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a growing health problem in many minority populations, including Mexican Americans, American Indians, and Alaskan Eskimos. In studies of extended families in these three populations, our goal is to identify genetic factors that influence risk of CVD and related traits and to understand the interactions of genes with environmental factors. Many CVD risk factors have been shown to be significantly heritable, and linkage analyses have identified chromosomal regions that harbor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) influencing CVD risk. Genetic correlations and genotype x environment interactions have been demonstrated for numerous phenotypes related to CVD. Fine mapping using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is being done in chromosomal regions with high LOD scores for specific disease risk factors. Exomes and whole genomes are being sequenced, and efforts are underway to identify the relevant functional genes using genome-wide association, transcriptomic analysis, and other approaches.