In this week's PLoS Medicine, James C. Engert of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Sonia S. Anand, of McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada and colleagues, on behalf of the INTERHEART investigators, show that the genetic risk for cardiovascular disease conferred by several single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Chromosome 9p21 region may be decreased in individuals who consume a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables. These findings suggest that gene–environment interactions are important drivers of cardiovascular disease and raise the possibility that a sound diet can mediate the effects of 9p21 SNPs.
The results of this study include analysis of two separate study populations comprising several ethnic groups, but will need to be confirmed in further large studies that have similar genetic and dietary information.
Funding: This study was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (Grant # NA6336). SA holds the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Michael G. DeGroote endowed Chair in Population Health, and the May Cohen Eli Lilly endowed Chair in Women's Health at McMaster University. VS was supported by the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, and the Academy of Finland (grant number 129494). SY is supported by an endowed chair from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. RDo is a recipient of a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. SDB holds a graduate scholarship from the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute and the Department of Medicine. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Do R, Xie C, Zhang X, Männistö S, Harald K, et al. (2011) The Effect of Chromosome 9p21 Variants on Cardiovascular Disease May Be Modified by Dietary
Intake: Evidence from a Case/Control and a Prospective Study. PLoS Med 9(10): e1001106. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001106
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CONTACT:
James C. Engert
Medicine & Human Genetics
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec 83764
Canada
+1-514-934-1934
jamie.engert@mcgill.ca
Journal
PLoS Medicine