Munich Center for NeuroSciences - Brain and Mind
print

Links and Functions

Breadcrumb Navigation


Content

32 hits

independent genomic regions shown to be associated with stroke

23.03.2018

An international research consortium, including Prof. Martin Dichgans, member of MCN and of the GSN scientific board, and one of the leaders of the current study, has identified 22 new genetic risk factors for stroke, thus tripling the number of gene regions known to affect stroke risk. The results demonstrate shared genetic influences with multiple related vascular conditions, especially blood pressure, but also coronary artery disease, venous thromboembolism and others. Linking these results with extensive biological databases provides novel clues on stroke mechanisms and illustrates the potential of genetics to identify drug targets for stroke therapy.

The results of the largest genetic study on stroke thus far were now published online in the journal Nature Genetics. The study was based on DNA samples of 520,000 European, North- and South American, Asian, African, and Australian participants of whom 67,000 had a stroke. These were derived from 29 large studies.

From the millions of genetic variants analyzed, 32 independent genomic regions were shown to be associated with stroke of which two thirds are novel.The study was conducted by members of MEGASTROKE, a large-scale international collaboration launched by the International Stroke Genetics Consortium, an international multi-disciplinary collaborative of experts in stroke genetics from around the world who have been working together for the past 10 years. MEGASTROKE members include research groups from Germany, France, the UK, Japan, USA, Iceland, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Singapore, Australia, and Canada.

Stroke is the second most common cause of both death and disability-adjusted life-years worldwide, but its molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. A new study now provides extensive novel insight on the biology and pathways leading to stroke.

Source: LMU News 2018