Molecular genetics of coronary artery disease and ischemic stroke

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic stroke are important clinical problems because they are associated with high mortality rates. The main causal and treatable risk factors of CAD and ischemic stroke include hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and smoking. In addition, recent studies have highlighted the importance of genetic factors and their interactions with environmental factors in the development of CAD and ischemic stroke. Disease prevention is an important strategy for reducing the overall burden of CAD and ischemic stroke, and identification of markers of disease risk can help in risk prediction and the use of accurate interventions can help decrease the risk of these events. Although genetic linkage analyses and candidate gene association studies have implicated several loci and candidate genes in predisposition to CAD or ischemic stroke, these loci and genes have not been identified definitively. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms in chromosome 9p21.3 locus and other loci are associated with CAD or ischemic stroke. In this review, I have summarized the genetics of CAD and ischemic stroke and have identified susceptibility genes and loci implicated in these conditions based on the results of GWASs. In addition, I have reviewed GWASs highlighting the association of polymorphisms in the chromosome 9p21.3 locus or other loci with CAD or ischemic stroke. The results of these studies may provide insights into the functions of the implicated genes in the development of CAD and ischemic stroke.