Genetically Determined Height and Coronary Artery Disease
Why the study?
Does genetically determined shorter height increase the risk of coronary artery disease?
Population
193,449 individuals, along with an individual-level genotype cohort of 18,249 persons.
Comparison
Genetically determined height vs Different quartiles of height-associated…
Design
Case-control
Authors
Discussion
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Overview
Shorter genetically determined height was associated with higher CAD risk; extends genetic evidence for susceptibility but leaves causal interventions unproven.
Key Points
- To determine whether adult height is causally associated with coronary artery disease and to identify potential biological pathways driving this relationship.
- Evaluated 180 height-associated genetic variants to test the association between a 1-SD (6.5 cm) decrease in genetically determined height and CAD risk across 65,066 cases and 128,383 controls.
- Analyzed individual-level genotypes from 18,249 participants to assess CAD risk by height allele burden, tested associations with 12 cardiovascular risk factors, and performed pathway analyses.
- A 1-SD decrease in genetically determined height was associated with a 13.5% relative increase in CAD risk (95% CI, 5.4 to 22.1; P<0.001).
- Carrying more height-raising alleles showed a graded protective effect against CAD, with participants in height quartile 4 having lower risk than quartile 1 (OR 0.74; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.84; P<0.001).
- Genetically shorter height was significantly linked to higher LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels (explaining roughly 30% of the association) and shared biological pathways with atherosclerosis.
Structured PICO
Does genetically determined shorter height increase the risk of coronary artery disease?
P
Population
193,449 individuals (65,066 cases of coronary artery disease and 128,383 controls), along with an individual-level genotype cohort of 18,249 persons.
I
Intervention
Genetically determined height (assessed using 180 height-associated genetic variants)
C
Comparator
Different quartiles of height-associated alleles, or per 1-SD (6.5 cm) change in genetically determined height
O
Outcome
Risk of coronary artery disease (CAD)hard clinical
Genetically determined shorter height is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, a relationship that is partly mediated by an adverse lipid profile.
Cite This Study
Nelson et al. (2015) studied this question.