Tag: University of Oxford

HCM Genetics Discovery by British Researchers

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A recent discovery by British researchers sheds light on how a type of common genetic mutation – a so called “common variant” – influences the expression of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by mutation(s) in the cardiac sarcomere. 

How do Common Variants Impact Sarcomere Mutations?

This research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and spearheaded by Dr. Hugh Watkins of the University of Oxford, explains why some individuals with a particular sarcomere mutation develop a severe case of HCM, while their family members with the same mutation may develop only mild HCM symptoms or show no signs of the disease at all.  It also may explain why people who lack sarcomere mutations develop the disease.

The researchers compared the DNA of 2,780 people with HCM and 47,486 people without HCM and found that common variants acting in concert with rare sarcomere mutations determine whether a person will develop HCM. 

Common Variant HCM Not Hereditable

In addition, the researchers found that HCM attributable to common variants alone is unlikely to be passed on to future generations. This is good news for the children of HCM patients caused by common variants.

Watch your Blood Pressure

Lastly, this paper found that high diastolic blood pressure was associated with the development of  HCM caused by common variants. Hence, keeping blood pressure under control is something that patients can do to minimize their risk of developing HCM in the future.

A link to the study in Nature Genetics can be found here;
You can access a thorough summary by the British Heart Foundation here;
and you can find a short summary at Medical Xpress here.

Data From HCM Registry to Inform Personalized HCM Treatment in Future

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Several years ago, researchers from the University of Virginia (UVA) and the University of Oxford announced a joint project involving a large international registry of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients to facilitate research into HCM. Backed with funding from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, this project, known as the HCM Registry, includes data from 2,750 patients with HCM at 44 sites in six countries. 

This week, researchers from UVA announced their first findings from this registry which suggest that HCM patients can be separated into two basic groups:

  1.  Patients with a known genetic mutation who are not obstructed but have scarring of the heart muscle;
  2. Patients who do not have a known genetic mutation and do not exhibit scarring, but who do have a significant amount of obstruction to blood flow.

According to Dr. Christopher Kramer of UVA, this information should provide doctors with information that allows them to better assess the degree of risk to any particular patient, and to help inform a treatment strategy for each patient based on his or her unique profile.