Health & Fitness - Genetic mutation may be link to PAD

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Genetic mutation may be link to PAD

DURHAM, N.C. (UPI) -- Clogged leg arteries, known as peripheral artery disease, or PAD, may be linked to a genetic mutation, U.S. researchers suggest.

A study using mice, published online in the journal Circulation, was able to identify a relatively small region on chromosome 7 that appears to protect mice from the consequences of PAD-like injury that is surgically-induced.

"Essentially, we now have a field of about 20 genes that we think may be involved in shaping the way peripheral artery disease develops," study co-senior author Dr. Brian Annex of Duke University Medical Center said in a statement. "At this point, we are not certain which ones are playing an active role. Still, we feel strongly that our discovery opens a new wave of investigation that may one day yield novel prevention strategies or treatments."

As a clinician, Annex observed repeatedly that two patients of the same sex and age came in with similar blockages and risk factors, but in one there was slow disease progress, while the other faced limb loss or death within six months.

"I just knew there just had to be a genetic basis for it," he said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 02/26/2008

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