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The Laboratory for Cardiovascular Diseases identified the lymphotoxin-α (LTA) gene as associated with MI. LTA protein is known to be a mediator of inflammation and the Laboratory showed that individuals with a specific haplotype in the LTA gene region have higher levels of LTA protein expression as well as modified function of LTA protein that worsen degree of inflammation, thereby increasing the risk of MI to 1.8-fold.
The research results were published in the December issue of the U.S. science journal Nature Genetics.