The relationships between FAM5C SNP (rs10920501) variability and metabolic syndrome and inflammation in women with coronary heart disease.

INTRODUCTION

The leading cause of death among women is coronary heart disease (CHD), a multifactorial disease with polygenic heritability estimated at 50%. Polymorphisms in the family with sequence similarity 5, member C' (FAM5C) gene have been associated with myocardial infarction (MI). FAM5C also corresponds directly with the inflammatory biomarker monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and metabolic syndrome.

METHOD

The purpose of this descriptive gene association pilot study was to investigate the variability of FAM5C (rs10920501) in 91 women with CHD. The authors also examined the associations between the variability of FAM5C (rs10920501) and metabolic syndrome, inflammatory markers, and early onset CHD.

RESULTS

No women in this study with the homozygous variant (TT) had an MI. Women with a history of MI and the heterozygous (AT) genotype had a later age of onset of CHD compared to those with the homozygous wild type (AA; F(3, 34) = 5.00, p < .01). These findings suggest a protective effect of the T allele in women with a history of MI. The genotype of FAM5C rs10920501 explained approximately 7% of the variability of age of onset of CHD in women who have had an MI, while holding body mass index (BMI) and smoking history constant. There was no significant relationship between FAM5C (rs10920501) and metabolic syndrome or any inflammatory biomarkers in this sample.

CONCLUSION

FAM5C remains a gene of interest in a complex disease process.