New genetic risk factor for inflammation identified in African American women

African Americans have higher blood levels of a protein associated with increased heart-disease risk than European Americans, despite higher “good” HDL cholesterol and lower “bad” triglyceride levels. This contradictory observation now may be explained, in part, by a genetic variant identified in the first large-scale, genome-wide association study of this protein involving 12,000 African American and Hispanic American women.

Lead researcher Alexander Reiner, M.D., an epidemiologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues describe their findings online ahead of the Sept. 7 print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Specifically, the researchers looked for genetic signposts associated with elevated levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP – a marker of inflammation that is linked with increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.

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View the original article here: New genetic risk factor for inflammation identified in African American women