Acute myocardial infarction

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a leading cause of death and disability worldwide despite substantial improvements in diagnosis over the past decade. From being an illness prevalent predominantly in developed countries, AMI is now becoming increasingly more common in developing countries. AMI is a multifactorial disorder that is thought to result from an interaction between genetic background and environmental factors. Disease prevention is an important strategy for reducing the overall burden of AMI, and the identification of markers for disease risk is the key both for risk prediction and for potential intervention to reduce the chance of future events. Numerous candidate gene and genome-wide association studies have been performed on AMI, a small number of regulating genetic variants having a limited effect have been identified. However the mechanisms by which the variants of these genes influence the pathophysiology of disease are unknown. This phenomenon can partially be explained by possible gene-gene/epistasis interactions that were little investigated so far. Many attempts have been made to develop genetic profiles using the results of the genetic studies, but their value was very limited for predicting personal risk. Due to the high incidence and gravity of MI, it is of vital importance to define these diseases by understanding the mechanisms involved in their development. Moreover, more genetic studies are needed to map and identify other disease-causing genes.