Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common clinical arrhythmia that appears to be highly heritable, despite representing a complex interplay of several disease processes that generally do not manifest until later in life. In this manuscript, we will review the genetic basis of this complex trait established through studies of familial AF, linkage and candidate gene studies of common AF, genome wide association studies (GWAS) of common AF, and transcriptomic studies of AF. Since AF is associated with a five-fold increase in the risk of stroke, we also review the intersection of common genetic factors associated with both of these conditions. Similarly, we highlight the intersection of common genetic markers associated with some risk factors for AF, such as hypertension and obesity, and AF. Lastly, we describe a paradigm where genetic factors predispose to the risk of AF, but which may require additional stress and trigger factors in older age to allow for the clinical manifestation of AF.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 55 |
| Journal | Current Cardiology Reports |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant R01 HL111314 to MKC, the NIH National Center for Research Resources for Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic Clinical and Translational Science Award UL1-RR024989, the Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine philanthropy research funds, and the Tomsich Atrial Fibrillation Research Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Keywords
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Genomics
- Hypertension
- Stroke
