Association of common polymorphisms in GCKR and APOA5 genes with levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol in a Chinese population

Abstract

Objective: We hypothesise that the fatty acids (FA) of the myocardium might be abnormal at the end stage of heart disease. Design and methods: Myocardial tissue was obtained from three experimental groups: (1) ten patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); (2) ten with coronary artery disease (CAD); and (3) ten controls. The diagnosis for each patient was made on the basis of the pathology and the clinical manifestations. The myocardial tissue from the DCM and CAD was obtained at the time of cardiac transplantation at Oregon Health Sciences University, USA. For each patient whose heart provided material for this study, prior permission was obtained to use the specimen for diagnostic and research purposes. Control hearts were obtained from autopsied patients who had died of non-cardiac causes (half of them from accident victims). Results: The CAD group was older than other two groups, p 0.05. Conclusions: The characteristic of the phospholipids of the myocardium from patients with DCM and CAD had a lower content of linoleic acids.