Department of Medicine, University of Patras School of Medicine, 26223 Patras, Greece.
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
Genes (Basel). 2021 Nov 19;12(11):1825. doi: 10.3390/genes12111825.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide and places a significant burden on healthcare systems. There are significant racial/ethnic differences in the incidence, subtype, and prognosis of stroke, between people of European and African ancestry, of which only about 50% can be explained by traditional stroke risk facts. However, only a small number of genetic studies include individuals of African descent, leaving many gaps in our understanding of stroke genetics among this population. This review article highlights the need for and significance of including African-ancestry individuals in stroke genetic studies and points to the efforts that have been made towards this direction. Additionally, we discuss the caveats, opportunities, and next steps in African stroke genetics-a field still in its infancy but with great potential for expanding our understanding of stroke biology and for developing new therapeutic strategies.
中风是全球范围内导致残疾和死亡的主要原因之一，给医疗保健系统带来了巨大的负担。在欧洲和非洲血统的人群中，中风的发病率、亚型和预后存在显著的种族/民族差异，其中只有约 50%可以用传统的中风风险因素来解释。然而，只有少数遗传研究包括非洲裔个体，这使得我们对这一人群中风遗传学的认识存在许多空白。这篇综述文章强调了在中风遗传研究中纳入非裔个体的必要性和重要性，并指出了为此所做的努力。此外，我们还讨论了在非裔中风遗传学这一仍处于起步阶段但具有巨大潜力的领域中需要注意的问题、机遇和下一步措施，该领域有望扩展我们对中风生物学的认识，并为开发新的治疗策略提供帮助。
